Pollination strategy of Gennaria diphylla (Orchidaceae) on the Canary Islands and on Madeira

Jean Claessens*, Antonio Franquinho Aguiar, Ole Karsholt, Juan José Bacallado, Reinout Heijungs, Barbara Gravendeel

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Gennaria diphylla (Link) Parl. is a terrestrial, inconspicuous green orchid. Its distribution includes the central and western Mediterranean region as well as the Canary Islands and Madeira. Investigations on its pollination biology are scarce. In literature, there are mentions of autogamy and of allogamy. Pollination and pollen import and export were studied on Tenerife and Madeira. The investigations showed autogamy plays a less important role than thought, although a caging experiment showed that the species is well capable of self-pollination. The orchid is pollinated by a variety of small moths, especially of the families Geometridae, Pyralidae and Crambidae. It is flowering in a period when few other plants flower, so there is little competition for pollinators. Complemented by autogamy this seems to be a successful strategy, as the species shows a relatively high average fruit set of 73 %.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere73718
Pages (from-to)1-10
Number of pages10
JournalMediterranean Botany
Volume43
Early online date21 Mar 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank Dr. Francisco Fernandes for sharing information on the visitors of Gennaria diphylla on Madeira and for indications of growing sites and Per Falck for his help in identifying insects. Marijke Claessens-Janssen as well as the anonymous reviewers provided valuable improvements to the manuscript, for which we thank them very much.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Universidad Complutense. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • allogamy
  • autogamy
  • Gennaria diphylla
  • Madeira
  • Orchidaceae
  • Tenerife

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