Pollination before flowers: Infrared as ancient pollination cue
Plant Science Research WeeklyWhen we talk of pollination, we often imagine colorful flowers and scents that attract insects to the flowers. However, flowers are a hallmark of angiosperms. How cone-bearing gymnosperms attract their pollinators has been a long-standing question. In a recent study, Valencia-Montoya et al. investigated…
Repeated evolution of flowers specialized for buzz pollination
Plant Science Research WeeklyIf you’ve ever looked closely at a tomato flower, you might have noticed that its anthers cluster together in the center of the flower, making the pollen inaccessible to most insects. Tomato flowers are an example of a buzz pollinated flower, in which the pollen is released by the physical shaking…
Significant floral diversity independent of pollinator change in 'Buzz-Bee' pollinated Melastomataceae
Plant Science Research WeeklyThe concept of pollination syndromes posits that floral diversity arises from shifts among pollinator groups, yet their predictive accuracy for pollinator identification is debated. Kopper et al. leveraged machine learning, utilizing 44 floral traits from 252 species with known pollinator interactions,…