by
Jeff Ollerton and Nick Waser
Ecologists and evolutionary biologists seek
to document repeated patterns that they see in nature and to understand the
processes that determine these patterns. One example is the idea of
“pollination syndromes”, sets of flower characteristics that appear to have
repeatedly evolved in different plant families due to the convergent selection
applied by specific types of pollinators. Thus, red, scentless flowers are
typical of many bird-pollinated plants whilst white, night-scented flowers
often signify moth pollination. Plant species that display such
archetypical flower traits are used as textbook examples to emphasize a view
that plant-pollinator interactions tend to be predictable and
specialised. 
