2005. First confirmation of a native bird-pollinated plant in Europe. Á/ Oikos 110: 578 Á/ 590.The pollination of Anagyris foetida L. (Fabaceae), a Mediterranean species that is a relict of the Tertiary, was studied in two populations of SW Spain over a three-year period. Numerous censuses of birds and insects were carried out, the floral nectar was quantified, and specific tests were performed to determine the pollinators' pollen load, the pollen's effective transfer to the pistil, and spontaneous self-pollination. The most important pollinators were three species of passeriforms Á/Phylloscopus collybita Vieillot, Sylvia atricapilla L. and S. melanocephala Gmelin Á/ a result coherent with findings in populations of S and E Spain. The negligible existence of insect visitors and pollinators of A. foetida flowers could be explained by the early flowering of this species during the autumn Á/winter, coinciding with the coolest and wettest months of the year (cold, high winds, almost daily mists that persist until nightfall, and above all, abundant rainfall). The pollen loads carried by the birds were high, as were also the loads transferred to the pistil. The fruit-set of bagged flowers was very low, evidence of the plant's need for the birds as pollinators. This is the first proof of the existence of a native European bird-pollinated plant, since besides its peculaliarities (flowers odourless, pseudotubular, with no landing platform, pendulous, diurnal populations were mainly pollinated by three passeriform species.

The species studied show a mixed pollination system between insects and passerine birds. In S. calliantha there is, in addition, a third agent (juveniles of Gallotia stehlini). The participation of birds in this mixed pollination system presents varying degrees of importance because, while in S. calliantha they are the main pollinators, in the other species they interact to complement the insects which are the main pollinators. A review of different florae showed that the large showy floral morphotypes of Scrophularia are concentrated in the western and central Mediterranean region, Macaronesia and USA (New Mexico).

As most plants of the Mediterranean region bloom in spring, there have been few studies of the reproductive biology of species with autumn-winter flowering. In this study, we investigate the breeding system of Anagyris foetida, one of the few shrubs that blooms at this time. The floral, phenological, and reproductive aspects of two populations of this Mediterranean legume from south-west Spain were studied via field and laboratory experiments. The variability of fruit and seeds was studied in another 12 Iberian populations with respect to certain meteorological parameters (temperature and rainfall). Anagyris foetida shows cauliflory, marked floral longevity, and adichogamy. The peak of flowering is in January-February. It is self-compatible, with no clear advantage of cross-over self-pollination, and with virtually no autonomous self-pollination. This is because the stigma, like some other legumes, prevents the germination of pollen if its surface is not ruptured by pollinators. The number of seeds per fruit under natural pollination was positively correlated with the total rainfall during the fruiting period (from January to May), and significantly influenced the percentage of fruit weight represented by the pericarp, in the sense that the smaller the number of viable seeds in the fruit, the greater the percentage of pericarp weight.

Meiotic triad formation is due to a failure in meiosis II of the chalazal cell of the dyad. In Cytisus seeds the aril has a funicular origin with predominantly post-fertilization development, but a normal growth of the endosperm is needed for proper aril development.

Article (refereed) -postprintValtueña, Francisco J.; Preston, Chris D.; Kadereit, Joachim W. 2012 Phylogeography of a Tertiary relict plant, Meconopsis cambrica (Papaveraceae), implies the existence of northern refugia for a temperate herb. Molecular Ecology, 21 (6). 1423-1437. 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2012.05473.x Contact CEH NORA team at noraceh@ceh.ac.ukThe NERC and CEH trademarks and logos ('the Trademarks') are registered trademarks of NERC in the UK and other countries, and may not be used without the prior written consent of the Trademark owner. Pyrenees and the Iberian System, and a southern group from the central and eastern 25Pyrenees. Populations from the Cantabrian Mountains were found in both groups. Based evidence that the species has persisted for a long period with a highly fragmented and 36 probably very localized distribution. GenBank (see supplementary material, Table S1). 155 AFLPs 156AFLP products were obtained following the methodology described in Valtueña et al. 157(2011). The number of samples per population is given in cambrica, see Table 1) and three outgroup taxa (supplementary material, remainder of the species sampled was not identified (Fig. 3) were shared by two populations, and four sequences (C, D, E, H) were found in only 290 one population (see Table 1). The topology of the MP tree and the BEAST tree ( 295The topology of the trees obtained in the MP and the Bayesian analyses of the 296 combined ITS-cpDNA dataset was essentially the same (Fig. 3B). In both analyses, the 297 two clades defined by the two main haplotypes (see below) are weakly supported. In the 298Bayesian analysis (Fig. 3B, dotted 316The distribution of these haplotypes among populations is shown in Fig. 4. 317 AFLP analysis 318The six AFLP primers generated 319 fragments with a percentage mismatch error rate The analysis of cpDNA sequence variation revealed the existence of two major groups 384 additionally supported by an 11bp inversion in the psbJ-petA region (Fig. 4). The first data, which resulted in an essentially unresolved polytomy (Fig. 3A). When the split 392 into the northern and southern groups is accepted as the primary split in the species, the 393 age of this split is equivalent to the age of the crown group diversification of the species 394 calculated on the basis of ITS sequence variation (Fig. 2) System grouped together (Fig. 5). 429Apart from the fact that no admixture among these three groups could be The southern group comprises five populations from two different geographical regions. 474These are two populations from the Cantabrian Mountains and three populations from 475 the central and eastern Pyrenees. In the BAPS analysis of AFLP variation (Fig. 5) in the cpDNA analysis (Fig. 4).

No abstract

In most angiosperms, the endosperm develops before the embryo, but with harmony between the two structures until final seed formation. In an embryological study, we show that inbreeding depression causes disharmony in development of the two structures in two Leguminosae shrubs, Cytisus multiflorus and C. striatus. Our main objective was to test the causes of self-sterility in the two species by comparing the embryological development of the self seeds with that of cross seeds. In developing selfed seeds of C. multiflorus, the embryo reaches at most the globular stage and never forms mature seeds, while in C. striatus a few mature selfed seeds are formed. In both species, the main cause of abortion of developing selfed seeds is diminished endosperm development (low values of the ratio of endosperm to embryo), which triggers collapse of the endosperm and embryo. The results indicate that self-sterility in C. striatus is postzygotic because of strong, early inbreeding depression, while in C. multiflorus there exists a mixed pre- and postzygotic mechanism; the prezygotic mechanism causes rejection of some self-pollen tubes in the style/ovary, and the early inbreeding depression triggers abortion of fertilized ovules that escaped that action.

Many studies have addressed evolution and phylogeography of plant taxa in oceanic islands, but have primarily focused on endemics because of the assumption that in widespread taxa the absence of morphological differentiation between island and mainland populations is due to recent colonization. In this paper, we studied the phylogeography of Scrophularia arguta, a widespread annual species, in an attempt to determine the number and spatiotemporal origins of dispersal events to Canary Islands. Four different regions, ITS and ETS from nDNA and psbA‐trnH and psbJ‐petA from cpDNA, were used to date divergence events within S. arguta lineages and determine the phylogenetic relationships among populations. A haplotype network was obtained to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships among haplotypes. Our results support an ancient origin of S. arguta (Miocene) with expansion and genetic differentiation in the Pliocene coinciding with the aridification of northern Africa and the formation of the Mediterranean climate. Indeed, results indicate for Canary Islands three different events of colonization, including two ancient events that probably happened in the Pliocene and have originated the genetically most divergent populations into this species and, interestingly, a recent third event of colonization of Gran Canaria from mainland instead from the closest islands (Tenerife or Fuerteventura). In spite of the great genetic divergence among populations, it has not implied any morphological variation. Our work highlights the importance of nonendemic species to the genetic richness and conservation of island flora and the significance of the island populations of widespread taxa in the global biodiversity.