Abstract
A plant can combine physical and chemical tools to interact with other organisms. Some are designed for pollinator attraction (i.e., colors and volatile organic compounds-VOCs); others can act to discourage herbivores (i.e., non-glandular trichomes). Few studies fully address available tools in a single species; notwithstanding, this information can be pivotal in understanding new interactions out of the home range. We characterized flower traits, emission profiles of constitutive compounds from flowers and leaves, micro-morphology of the glandular trichomes, and listed flower visitors of two Mexican bird-pollinated Salvia species (S. blepharophylla and S. greggii), growing in an Italian botanical garden. Flowers were highly variable in their morphometric characteristics. In both species, four trichome morphotypes with similar histochemistry and distribution were documented for leaves and flowers except the calyx abaxial side. The vegetative emission profiles were qualitatively more complex than the floral ones; however, common compounds occurring in high relative percentages were β-caryophyllene and germacrene D. Floral bouquets were dominated by limonene and β-pinene in S. greggii and by 1,8-cineole in S. blepharophylla. Two potential (non-bird) pollinators were especially abundant: small bees belonging to the genus Lasioglossum and large bees belonging to the species Xylocopa violacea. Our study highlights the plasticity of these plants, as well as tools that can be conveniently used to establish novel interactions.
Highlights
In the course of evolution, plants have developed different strategies to attract or repel other living organisms
The current study provides a comprehensive view of the potential of these species and how they may be linked to interactions occurring out of the home range in contrast with previously established pollination syndromes [13,14]
The two species differ in the following floral characters: (i) the color of the corollas looks red, but their tone is different: it is cold with an orange undertone in S. blepharophylla, and warmer with a touch of magenta in S. greggii; (ii) the floral proportions differ in the overall flower size, shape, and orientation of the lower lip and among the six examined floral morphological traits (Table 1)
Summary
In the course of evolution, plants have developed different strategies to attract or repel other living organisms. The synthesis of colored substances and the production of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by glandular trichomes are among the most investigated ones [1,2,3,4,5,6]. A deeper knowledge of how a plant can employ these tools will greatly help in understanding the evolutionary perspective of ecosystem working conditions. Information is still scattered and often incomplete, even for single well-studied species. We were interested in sketching the potential of a given plant species in terms of tools applied to attractive/deterrent performances and their plasticity in actual plant–animal interactions. We selected two exotic species with an evolutionary path possibly in contrast with the local occurring interactions.
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