Tools to Tie: Flower Characteristics, VOC Emission Profile, and Glandular Trichomes of Two Mexican Salvia Species to Attract Bees
Open Access
- 24 November 2020
- Vol. 9 (12), 1645
- https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9121645
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.This publication has 40 references indexed in Scilit:
- A botanic garden as a tool to combine public perception of nature and life-science investigations on native/exotic plants interactions with local pollinatorsPLOS ONE, 2020
- Salvia verticillata: Linking glandular trichomes, volatiles and pollinatorsPhytochemistry, 2018
- Ultrastructural insight into terpene-producing trichomes and essential oil profile in Salvia greggii A. GrayFlora, 2017
- Chemicals on plant surfaces as a heretofore unrecognized, but ecologically informative, class for investigations into plant defenceBiological Reviews, 2015
- Mechanisms of plant defense against insect herbivoresPlant Signaling & Behavior, 2012
- Pollination Syndromes of New WorldSalviaSpecies with Special Reference to Bird Pollination1Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 2011
- Sites of synthesis, biochemistry and functional role of plant volatilesSouth African Journal of Botany, 2010
- Floral Diversity and Pollen Transfer Mechanisms in Bird-pollinated Salvia SpeciesAnnals of Botany, 2007
- The formation and function of plant volatiles: perfumes for pollinator attraction and defenseCurrent Opinion in Plant Biology, 2002
- Glandular Hairs and Secreted Material inSalvia blepharophyllaBrandegee ex Epling Grown in ItalyAnnals of Botany, 1999