Trade off between quantity and size of pollen grains in the heterandrous flowers of Senna pendula (Fabaceae)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Heteranthery, the presence of different types of stamens in a flower, may reduce the conflict between pollinators and plants by ensuring the resource for the pollinator without drastically affecting the availability of viable male gametes for fertilization, according to the division-of-labor hypothesis. We investigated whether the poricidal anthers of Senna pendula, a buzz-pollinated heterantherous species, present morphological and physiological differences among pollen grains from the three sets of stamens. We compared quantity, ornamentation, size and fecundity of pollen from long, medium and short stamens. The short feeding stamens produced larger but fewer pollen grains than the long pollinating stamens, which produced smaller pollen grains but in higher quantity. The total pollen volume of pollinating and feeding stamens per flower, however, was the same. The medium stamen produced less-fertile small pollen grains and seems to play no specific role in bee feeding and pollination. Our results indicate differential allocation of pollen for pollinating and feeding stamens mediated by heteranthery. The differences in volume versus quantity of pollen grains fit the division-of-labor hypothesis well for heterantherous pollen-only flowers with poricidal anthers.