Potential of invasive and native solitary specialist bee pollinators to help restore the rare cowhorn orchid ( Cyrtopodium punctatum) in Florida

Abstract

Cyrtopodium punctatum is a rare epiphytic orchid in southern Florida, made rare by historical over-collection. We examined the potential pollination of this orchid by the recently naturalized orchid bee ( Euglossa viridissima), recorded as a pollinator of the orchid in tropical America, and found that this orchid bee is not a pollinator of the plant. We sought to learn what is responsible for relatively heavy fruit set in a Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden population of C. punctatum, and determined that the native oil-collecting bee, Centris errans, is the most important pollinator. C. punctatum flowers at Fairchild have 18 times the fruit set of flowers in Everglades National Park. The difference is probably due to the many species and individuals of oil-reward plants in the Malpighiaceae in the garden, compared to one uncommon native species in the park. Female C. errans visit these oil-reward flowers to obtain edible oils to provision their brood. Cyrtopodium flowers appear to mimic the oil-reward flowers of the Malpighiaceae to attract Centris bee pollinators, much as many Oncidium orchids do in tropical America. We recommend that Brysonima lucida, a rare native malpighiaceous shrub, and C. punctatum be planted together in Everglades National Park and other natural areas to attempt to increase C. errans pollination, to restore and enhance the long-term survival of the orchid. Planting model malpighiaceous plants to enhance Centris bee pollination may be a useful restoration tactic for other rare orchid mimics in the American tropics, including Atlantic Forest in Brazil.