Flexible mating system in distylous populations of Psychotria carthagenensis Jacq. (Rubiaceae) in Brazilian Cerrado

Fruit set of distylous Psychotria carthagenensis Jacq. (Rubiaceae) mediated by Apis mellifera (Apidae) and species of Augochloropsis (Halictidae)

“…Emasculated P. carthagenensis buds were isolated with nylon bags in the pre-anthesis phase and marked with a black cotton line. Emasculation of buds is necessary because studied populations are self-compatible and agamospermy was found in L-morphs (Faria et al 2012). The desired number of flowers (N = 30) was reached for Augochloropsis spp.…”

“…(Rubiaceae) is self-compatible, has a high degree of reciprocity between morphs, and an equal morph ratio in the populations (Faria et al 2012). According to results of controlled hand pollinations in these populations, fruit set ranged from 5 to 35% in self-pollinations for short-styled (S) flowers and from 20 to 45% in long-styled (L) flowers.…”

“…According to results of controlled hand pollinations in these populations, fruit set ranged from 5 to 35% in self-pollinations for short-styled (S) flowers and from 20 to 45% in long-styled (L) flowers. For intermorph crosses, it varied between 15% and 20% in S-flowers and 15% and 25% in L-flowers (Faria et al 2012). This sub-forest shrub is two to three meters tall and is distributed from Costa Rica to Argentina (Delpetre et al 2005).…”

“…Floral senescence occurs between 1700 h and 1800 h on the same day (see Faria et al 2012 for more details on the floral biology of the species).…”

“…After handling, the flowers were bagged again for the subsequent determination of fruit production. Twenty flowers per morph, each from a different individual, were treated, totaling forty replicates for each population (Faria et al 2012). The comparison between the fruit set following the visit from the bees and that obtained with xenogamy was performed on the basis of the premise that xenogamy would represent the maximal pollination limit (Sobrevilla & Arroyo 1982).…”