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Notes on the Floral Biology of Couroupita guianensis Aubl. (Lecythidaceae)

1986; Missouri Botanical Garden; Volume: 73; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/2399141

2162-4372

Sonia Yarsick, Nerida Xena de Enrech, Nelson Ramírez, Getulio Agostini,

Plant Parasitism and Resistance

Floral biology has been studied in relatively few Lecythidaceae, despite their ecological importance in the Neotropics. Only a few authors have dealt with the subject, notably Jackson and Salas (1965) on Lecythis ellipitica H.B.K., Dias (1967) on Bertholletia excelsa Humb. & Bonpl., Mori and Kallunki (1976) on Gustavia superba (Kunth) Berg., Prance (1983) on Eschweilera garagarae Pittier, and Prance (1976) and Mori et al. (1978) on pollination and androecial structure in the family as a whole. Ormond et al. (1981) published a contribution to the floral biology of Couroupita guianensis after all of our field observations were completed and a draft of this paper was submitted for publication. Prance (1976) and Mori et al. (1978) pointed out that the androecial zygomorphy and the position of the hood (adpressed to the ring) in Couroupita subsessilis Pilg. suggest that the genus Couroupita may be intermediate in the family with respect to androecial evolution. Few studies of anthesis behavior in tropical plants, including Lecythidaceae, have been carried out. Notably, Mori et al. (.1978) reported diurnal anthesis and shedding of stamens during the late afternoon for Lecythis amara Aublet (= L. alba Mori, nom. nud.), and asynchronous anthesis during the morning for Eschweilera longipes (Poit.) Miers.; the latter of which sheds its androecia the following day. Differentiaf behavior between pollen produced in ring anthers and that found in hood anthers is documented by Mori and Orchard (1979), Mori et al. (1980a), and Ormond et al. (1981). Floral visits by potential pollinators, such as wasps and small bees, have been reported by Prance (1976), Mori et al. (1978), and Ormond et al. (1981).