Abstract
Within the Cape Floristic Region many lineages are characterised by large floral
diversity. The genus Erica is one of these lineages, making up -7% of the CFR.
Surprisingly, even though pollinators have been suggested to be a driving force of floral
morphology, the role of pollinators in the floral diversification and speciation of this
genus is not yet well understood. Therefore the aim of this paper was to establish if
Erica species can and do self-pollinate. Two Erica species, E. plukenetii and E. urna
viridis, were obtained from Kirstenbosch nursery, where hand-pollinations were
performed on 15-20 flowers of each of three treatments (self-pollination, cross
pollination and autogamous self-pollination. Additionally pollen tube analyses were
performed on seven Erica species, which were collected from the Constantia Mountain.
In E. plukenetii, self-incompatibility seems to be the predominant breeding system. It
appears that, like E. urna-viridis, most of the other species analysed, via pollen tube
analyses, have the potential to self-pollinate. However, more experiments are required
to establish if these species are truly self-compatible. Autogamy, on the other hand, does
not appear to set seed in the species studied. Therefore it would be fair to say that some
ericas can self-pollinate but none actually do self-pollinate. These results indicate that
ericas have a strong dependence on pollinators for seed set and in the past speciation
may have occurred due to adaptation to different pollinators, when opllinators were
scarce.
llPage
Africa, P. & arendse, B (2021). Can and do ericas self pollinate. Afribary. Retrieved from https://afribary.com/works/can-and-do-ericas-self-pollinate
Africa, PSN, and Brittany Arendse "Can and do ericas self pollinate" Afribary. Afribary, 19 Apr. 2021, https://afribary.com/works/can-and-do-ericas-self-pollinate. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.
Africa, PSN, and Brittany Arendse . "Can and do ericas self pollinate". Afribary, Afribary, 19 Apr. 2021. Web. 26 Dec. 2024. < https://afribary.com/works/can-and-do-ericas-self-pollinate >.
Africa, PSN and Arendse, Brittany . "Can and do ericas self pollinate" Afribary (2021). Accessed December 26, 2024. https://afribary.com/works/can-and-do-ericas-self-pollinate