21 May, 2015

Floral visitors in the Australian endemic Passiflora



by Shawn Krosnick, Tim Schroeder, Majesta Miles, and Samson King


Little is known about pollination in the 24 species of Passiflora (passion fruit) that are native to mainland Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australasia. Three species occur in Australia along the eastern coast extending from Queensland to Victoria. Although they are most closely related to other Asian Passiflora, the Australian native species exhibit many similarities to New World hummingbird pollinated taxa. For example, they have flowers that are yellow, orange, red, or pink, remain open for several days, lack scent, and produce large quantities of nectar. While ornithophilous pollination has been hypothesized for the Australian taxa, no studies have been performed to examine the reproductive biology of this group. 
Eastern Spinebill visiting a Passiflora flower.



Read the whole summary in: English!
Read the scientific publication in JPE.

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