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The pollination biology of Pseudostifftia kingii H.Rob. (Asteraceae), a rare endemic Brazilian species with uniflorous capitula

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Abstract

(The pollination biology of Pseudostifftia kingii H.Rob. (Asteraceae), a rare endemic Brazilian species with uniflorous capitula). P. kingii is a monotypic genus within the Asteraceae family that grows under extreme environmental conditions and possesses an unusual single-flowered capitulum. It is endemic to Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil, a region dominated by a mosaic of rocky, sandy flats and bogs in the upper elevational zone (above 900–1,000 m). To gain a better understanding of the pollination biology of P. kingii, we examined its floral development, floral rewards, reproductive strategies, and floral visitors. The flowers exhibit asynchronous diurnal anthesis with three distinct floral stages, each differing with regard to male–female maturation and nectar availability; these floral stages appear to influence the activity of the flower visitors. Although several floral characteristics of P. kingii suggest that it is an entomophilous species, observations revealed it as a generalist species for which hummingbirds and bees are the main floral visitors, differing slightly in the diurnal period of their visits. P. kingii can reproduce through xenogamy, geitonogamy, and what appears to be allogamy, but with different sizes of fruits (achenes) produced depending on the reproductive strategy employed. This study revealed some important features of pollination and floral biology within Asteraceae and provides clues for pollen dispersion in a harsh environment.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Grants from PIBIC/CNPQ to Juliana Hipólito, CNPq/PQ to Nádia Roque and Blandina Felipe Viana, and CONICET and SECyT (UNC) to Leonardo Galetto. We thank the Parque Sempre Viva in Mucugê, especially Euvaldo Ribeiro Júnior for all the logistic support and Universidade Federal da Bahia and Sarah Bates for the English revision of the final manuscript. We lastly thank Caio Graco (UEFS) and Favízia Freitas de Oliveira for assistance in identifying the floral visitors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Biologia e Ecologia de Abelhas, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, 40.170-110, Brazil

    Juliana Hipólito & Blandina Felipe Viana

  2. Herbário Alexandre Leal Costa, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, 40.170-110, Brazil

    Nádia Roque

  3. IMBIV (UNC – CONICET), Universidade Nacional de Córdoba, CC 495, 5000, Córdoba, Argentina

    Leonardo Galetto

  4. Canadian Pollination Initiative, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada

    Peter G. Kevan

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  1. Juliana Hipólito
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  2. Nádia Roque
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  3. Leonardo Galetto
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  4. Blandina Felipe Viana
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  5. Peter G. Kevan
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Correspondence to Juliana Hipólito.

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Hipólito, J., Roque, N., Galetto, L. et al. The pollination biology of Pseudostifftia kingii H.Rob. (Asteraceae), a rare endemic Brazilian species with uniflorous capitula. Braz. J. Bot 36, 247–254 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-013-0023-4

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