The Natural History of Pollination by Michael Proctor

Author:Michael Proctor [Michael Proctor, Peter Yeo and Andrew Lack]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780007383115
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Other wind-pollinated herbs

The flowers of grasses and sedges are so specialised for wind pollination that they bear little resemblance to insect-pollinated flowers. Among the remaining wind-pollinated herbs, an entomophilous ancestry is often obvious. Thus the rushes (Juncaceae) have a small chaffy perianth, large stamens and large rough stigmas (Fig. 9.18), but the arrangement of the parts of the flower leaves no doubt that they are closely related to the lily family (Liliaceae). The plantains (Plantago, family Plantaginaceae) (Fig. 9.19) have no close typically entomophilous relatives, but are comparable with the rushes in their adaptations to wind pollination – though in no way related to them. The corolla is small and membranous, and the strongly protogynous flowers have long, rough stigmas and large versatile anthers borne on long filaments (Fig. 9.20). Some species, such as the hoary plantain (P. media), which has conspicuous heads and is slightly scented, are visited by insects; they are probably another case (like the willows and some further examples considered below) in which there is a balance between insect and wind pollination (Stelleman, 1981).

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