Abstract
Synedrella nodiflora (L.) Gaertn grows almost throughout the year if the soil is damp. It produces heterogamous capitula with female ray florets anthesing first day and bisexual disc florets anthesing on the next three consecutive days. Disc florets are dichogamous, herkogamous, self-compatible, self-pollinating (vector-mediated) and display secondary pollen presentation through an intermediate form of brush mechanism. Ray and disc florets exhibit facultative xenogamy. Butterflies are principal pollinators while bees, wasps and flies are supplementary pollinators. Thrips, Microcephalothrips abdominalis uses the florets as breeding and feeding sites; the feeding activity effects pollination. The ray and disc florets produce cypselas; the cypselas produced by ray florets are heavier, elliptical, membranous with upwardly-pointing teeth along the margins and 2 short terminal awns while those produced by disc floret are lighter, cylindrical and tangentially compressed with 2 or 3 stiff terminal divaricate awns. Seed dispersal is polychorous and represented by anemochory, anthropochory, zoochory and ombrohydrochory. Cypselas of ray florets disperse to short distances and germinate germinate under specific germination conditions either at parental sites or in similar habitats while those of disc florets disperse farther away from parental sites and germinate readily under a wide range of conditions. Therefore, bimorphic cypselas with different germination abilities enable the plant to grow as a widespread weed but not as an invasive weed.
Highlights
MATERIALS AND METHODS Usharani & RajuSynedrella is a monotypic genus with only a single species, S. nodiflora
The present study shows that S. nodiflora uses nectar-less ray florets for pollinator attraction and reproductive function, and nectariferous disc florets exclusively for reproductive function
In S. nodiflora, the highest fruit set recorded in both ray and disc florets indicate that ray florets attract pollinator fauna and enhance both self and cross-pollination rate in both types of florets enabling the plant to increase fitness as an invasive weed
Summary
MATERIALS AND METHODS Usharani & RajuSynedrella is a monotypic genus with only a single species, S. nodiflora. Pollination mechanism The ray florets devoid of stamens act as female and they expose the stigmatic region prominently by unfolding stylar arms immediately after anthesis against the ligulate petal to receive pollen from the foragers on par with disc florets. The butterflies included Eurema hecabe (Image 3a), Leptosia nina (Image 3b) (Pieridae), Zizula hylax (Image 3c), Pseudozizeeria maha (Image 3d), Zizeeria karsandra, Everes lacturnus (Image 3e) (Lycaenidae) and Pelopidas mathias (Image 3f) (Hesperiidae) (Table 2).
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