Reproductive biology of eight sympatric Myrtaceae from Central Brazil

Abstract

Eight species of Brazilian Myrtaceae were studied for their flowering phenology, pollination biology, breeding system and fruiting success: Eugenia dysenteries, Siphoneugena densiflora, Blepharocalyx salicifolius, Campomanesia pubeacens, C. velutina, Myrcia linearifolia, M. rhodosepala and Psidium firmum. Flowering strategies were mass‐flowering and steady‐state types, with two species showing a pulsed flowering. All species were bee‐pollinated with pollen as the floral reward; flowers opened early in the morning and lasted one day; buzz‐pollination was registered in three species. Pollinator‐sharing of Bombus spp. bees occurred in the four savanna shrubs, pre‐dawn pollination by Ptiluglossa sp. (Colletidae) was found in arboreal 5. densiflora and the remaining two trees had open pollination systems. The three forest species were markedly self‐incompatible, and two of the savanna species were effectively so, whilst three savanna species showed self‐compatibility. Copyright © 1994, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved