雄全异株植物瘿椒树（省沽油科）的传粉生物学

从开花动态、传粉昆虫、花的形态结构、繁育系统、花粉活力和柱头可授性等方面研究了我国特有珍稀植物瘿椒树（Tapiscia sinensis Oliv.）的传粉生物学特性。瘿椒树是典型的雄全异株植物,两性花中含有功能性花粉,且自交亲和,但雄花花粉活力和萌发力是两性花的10倍以上。雄株和两性植株具有相同开花物候期,花期均为5月下旬至6月上旬,单花期为4-5天,雄花和两性花的5枚花药开裂的不同步性明显延长了散粉时间。两性花雌蕊先熟,柱头可授性较长。具有适应风媒和虫媒传粉的花部特征。传粉昆虫主要为蜜蜂科（Apidae）和食蚜蝇科（Syrphidae）昆虫,访花高峰期为8：30-10：30。维持瘿椒树雄全异株的可能机制是：雄株总体上增加了异交花粉的数量和质量;两性花的雄蕊为该物种提供了繁殖保障,同时为传粉者提供了报酬。     

雄全异株植物瘿椒树(省沽油科)的传粉生物学

从开花动态、传粉昆虫、花的形态结构、繁育系统、花粉活力和柱头可授性等方面研究了我国特有珍稀植物瘿椒树(Tapiscia sinensis Oliv.)的传粉生物学特性。瘿椒树是典型的雄全异株植物,两性花中含有功能性花粉,且自交亲和,但雄花花粉活力和萌发力是两性花的10倍以上。雄株和两性植株具有相同开花物候期,花期均为5月下旬至6月上旬,单花期为4-5天,雄花和两性花的5枚花药开裂的不同步性明显延长了散粉时间。两性花雌蕊先熟,柱头可授性较长。具有适应风媒和虫媒传粉的花部特征。传粉昆虫主要为蜜蜂科(Apidae)和食蚜蝇科(Syrphidae)昆虫,访花高峰期为8:30-10:30。维持瘿椒树雄全异株的可能机制是:雄株总体上增加了异交花粉的数量和质量;两性花的雄蕊为该物种提供了繁殖保障,同时为传粉者提供了报酬。     

Intersexual mimicry and imperfect deceit of a threatened aquatic herb Ottelia acuminata

Mimicry of non-rewarding flowers to rewarding flowers has been accepted as a strategy to improve pollination success in angiosperms. It has been proposed that this mechanism depends on whether potential pollinators can discriminate between the flowers. In this study, the intersexual mimicry and deceit pollination were studied in a threatened dioecious aquatic herb, Ottelia acuminata. Its female flowers resemble male flowers in morphology and odor compounds, to avoid discrimination by pollinators and outcompete male flowers in attracting the pollinators using stronger scents and bigger flowers. However, an obvious visit bias of its pollinator (Apis cerana) to male flowers was detected, suggesting that bees can distinguish the rewarding males from non-rewarding females. Although the deceit was not successful, pollination was not seriously undermined because pollen limitation was found to be low in the sampled natural population. We speculate that, due to “accidental” visits on female flowers and “mistake” pollinations, pollen limitation could be mitigated by a high frequency of pollen donors, and is correlated with the size and sex ratio of a population. Ottelia acuminata is a threatened dioecious aquatic herb. We suggest that developing multi-stakeholder coalitions should be encouraged to save the threatened edible and ornamental plant species in China. We hope this study could provide new insights into understanding of the role of intersexual mimicry in other flowering plants.     

Pollinator‐mediated interactions between cultivated papaya and co‐flowering plant species

Many modern crop varieties rely on animal pollination to set fruit and seeds. Intensive crop plantations usually do not provide suitable habitats for pollinators so crop yield may depend on the surrounding vegetation to maintain pollination services. However, little is known about the effect of pollinator‐mediated interactions among co‐flowering plants on crop yield or the underlying mechanisms. Plant reproductive success is complex, involving several pre‐ and post‐pollination events; however, the current literature has mainly focused on pre‐pollination events in natural plant communities. We assessed pollinator sharing and the contribution to pollinator diet in a community of wild and cultivated plants that co‐flower with a focal papaya plantation. In addition, we assessed heterospecific pollen transfer to the stigmatic loads of papaya and its effect on fruit and seed production. We found that papaya shared at least one pollinator species with the majority of the co‐flowering plants. Despite this, heterospecific pollen transfer in cultivated papaya was low in open‐pollinated flowers. Hand‐pollination experiments suggest that heterospecific pollen transfer has no negative effect on fruit production or weight, but does reduce seed production. These results suggest that co‐flowering plants offer valuable floral resources to pollinators that are shared with cultivated papaya with little or no cost in terms of heterospecific pollen transfer. Although HP reduced seed production, a reduced number of seeds per se are not negative, given that from an agronomic perspective the number of seeds does not affect the monetary value of the papaya fruit.     

Diurnal and nocturnal pollination of Marginatocereus marginatus (Pachycereeae: Cactaceae) in Central Mexico

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Chiropterophillous and ornithophillous characteristics can form part of a single reproductive strategy in plants that have flowers with diurnal and nocturnal anthesis. This broader pollination strategy can ensure seed set when pollinators are scarce or unpredictable. This appears to be true of hummingbirds, which presumably pollinate Marginatocereus marginatus, a columnar cactus with red nocturnal and diurnal flowers growing as part of dense bat-pollinated columnar cacti forests in arid regions of central Mexico. The aim of this study was to study the floral biology of M. marginatus, and evaluate the effectiveness of nocturnal vs. diurnal pollinators and the contribution of each pollinator group to overall plant fitness. METHODS: Individual flower buds were marked and followed to evaluate flower phenology and anthesis time. Flowers and nectar production were measured. An exclusion experiment was conducted to measure the relative contribution of nocturnal and diurnal pollinators to seed set. KEY RESULTS: Marginatocereus marginatus has red hermaphroditic flowers with nocturnal and diurnal anthesis. The plant cannot produce seeds by selfing and was pollinated during the day by hummingbirds and during the night by bats, demonstrating that both pollinator groups were important for plant reproduction. Strong pollen limitation was found in the absence of one of the pollinator guilds. CONCLUSIONS: Marginatocereus marginatus has an open pollination system in which both diurnal and nocturnal pollinators are needed to set seeds. This represents a fail-safe pollination system that can ensure both pollination, in a situation of low abundance of one of the pollinator groups (hummingbirds), and high competition for nocturnal pollinators with other columnar cacti that bloom synchronously with M. marginatus in the Tehuacan Valley, Mexico.     

Cheating is not always punished: killer female plants and pollination by deceit in the dwarf palm Chamaerops humilis

Because the interests of mutualists are not perfectly aligned, conflicts between partners often arise, rendering mutualism unstable by allowing the evolution of cheating. The dwarf palm Chamaerops humilis is engaged in a nursery pollination mutualism with a specific weevil Derelomus chamaeropsis. In exchange for pollen dispersal, dwarf palms provide pollinators with food, shelter and egg-laying sites, but pollinators can develop only within male inflorescences. Here we show that weevils lay eggs in female inflorescences but processes associated with fruit development prevent larval development. The cost imposed by developing larvae probably differs between male and female plants, explaining why only females defend their inflorescences. Female palms thus cheat their pollinating weevil, and pollinators are expected to 'punish' (avoid) them. We found no evidence for such punishment: weevils visit female plants and the duration of visits to male and female inflorescences does not differ. Thus mutualists do not always co-operate and cheating may not be necessarily punished.     

Facial area and hairiness of pollinators visiting semi-natural grassland wild plants predict their facial pollen load

1. Consequences of a decline in pollination function in semi-natural ecosystems are largely unknown due to variability in pollinator effectiveness, that is, their contribution to pollen deposition alone. While pollination effectiveness has been shown to be related to body size and hairiness of pollinators for some crops, studies encompassing a wide diversity of pollinators interacting with wild plant communities are lacking. 2. Thus, the relationships between pollen load, which is a measurement of pollen transport ability and a proxy of pollinator effectiveness, and morphological traits of pollinators sampled in 16 grasslands in Moselle, France, were investigated. The area, hairiness, and pollen load of each pollinator's face were measured for 658 individuals from 127 bee and fly species interacting with 36 wild plant species. Pollinator dry mass was also measured on 543 individuals from 109 species. 3. Dry body mass and facial area of pollinators were positively linked. This study highlights that bees transported significantly more pollen grains on their face than flies. Furthermore, bees' faces were larger and hairier. We also found that pollinators' facial pollen load increased with facial area and hairiness when we considered all pollinators. However, hairiness is not significant within pollinator group (bees or flies), mirroring a potential phylogenetic signal. 4. Hence, this study shows a wide diversity of pollinator and plant species in which larger and hairier pollinators may transport more pollen grains, at least on their face. However, future studies involving other pollinator body parts are needed to generalise these relationships.     

Pollination ecology of Gentiana siphonantha (Gentianaceae) and a further comparison with its sympatric congener species

In this study, we studied pollination ecology of Gentiana siphonantha (Gentianaceae), a late-autumn flowering alpine perennial in the northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau for two years for the first time. We also aimed to compare the pollination differentiation between this species and sympatrically distributed G. straminea that has a close phylogenetic origin but is flowering early. Flowers of G. siphonantha are characteristic of di-chogamy and herkogamy and this floral development prevents occurrence of autonomous self-pollination. This implication was confirmed by the breeding experiments, since no seed was produced when flowers were isolated. However, this gentian proved to be highly self-compatible when geitonogamous selfing was artificially induced. Each individual plant of this species has an average of 14.6 flowers ranging from 4 to 31, at both staminate and pistillate stages with a ratio of 1.2:1 in full anthesis. Both floral development and breeding experiments suggested that pollen vectors were indispensable for successful seed sets of this species. A great variety of insects were observed to visit this species, but the most common and only legitimate pollinator is Bumbus sushikini. A statistic observation suggested that this pollinator showed no preference to either staminate or pistillate flowers and visited them at random. We further calculated the frequency of their visits between and within individual plants. Among the pollinators’ bouts, the proportions of geitonogamous visits within an individual plant occupy about 87.8%. Such a case implied that geitonogamous selfing prevails in this species in spite of floral dichogamy and her-kogamy that were suggested to promote outcrossing. Compared with sympatric G. straminea, the total floral longevity and the male and female duration of this species are shorter. However, the number of flowers of each individual plant and branch increased when in full anthesis. It is interesting that both closely related species shared the same pollinator despite their distinct difference in flower morphology. This finding is inconsistent with the previous hypothesis that both flower color and corolla tube depth have coevolved with different pollinators during speciation and formation of reproductive isolation. Both visit frequencies of the individual flower and geitonoga-mous visits within the individual plant are higher in G. siphonantha than in G. straminea. This difference may result from their different inflorescence designs that actively act upon behaviors of pollinator. Although these two species differed in flowering phenology, their flowering stages overlapped for a few days, suggesting incomplete pollination isolation between them.     

Nectar secretion dynamic links pollinator behavior to consequences for plant reproductive success in the ornithophilous mistletoe Psittacanthus robustus

The mistletoe Psittacanthus robustus was studied as a model to link flower phenology and nectar secretion strategy to pollinator behaviour and the reproductive consequences for the plant. The bright‐coloured flowers presented diurnal anthesis, opened asynchronously throughout the rainy season and produced copious dilute nectar as the main reward for pollinators. Most nectar was secreted just after flower opening, with little sugar replenishment after experimental removals. During the second day of anthesis in bagged flowers, the flowers quickly reabsorbed the offered nectar. Low values of nectar standing crop recorded in open flowers can be linked with high visitation rates by bird pollinators. Eight hummingbirds and two passerines were observed as potential pollinators. The most frequent flower visitors were the hummingbirds Eupetomena macroura and Colibri serrirostris, which actively defended flowering mistletoes. The spatial separation between anthers, stigma and nectar chamber promotes pollen deposition on flapping wings of hovering hummingbirds that usually probe many flowers per visit. Seed set did not differ between hand‐, self‐ and cross‐pollinated flowers, but these treatments set significantly more seeds than flowers naturally exposed to flower visitors. We suggest that the limitation observed in the reproductive success of this plant is not related to pollinator scarcity, but probably to the extreme frequency of visitation by territorial hummingbirds. We conclude that the costs and benefits of plant reproduction depend on the interaction strength between flowers and pollinators, and the assessment of nectar secretion dynamics, pollinator behaviour and plant breeding system allows clarification of the complexity of such associations.     

Interspecific Pollen Transfer: Magnitude,Prevalence and Consequences for Plant Fitness

Interspecific pollen transfer (IPT) is one of the mechanisms underlying potential competition among plants for pollinators, and it refers to movement of pollen between different plant species by pollinators that visit their flowers simultaneously. Two components of IPT, related to each other, are distinguished: (a) heterospecific pollen deposition (HPD) on conspecific stigmas, which may interfere with fertilization by conspecific pollen; and (b) conspecific pollen loss (CPL) on heterospecific flowers, which may reduce the amount of pollen transferred between conspecific flowers. Thus, IPT may lead to reciprocal losses for male and female functions of the plant, with potentially important ecological and evolutionary consequences. In this review, we explore the magnitude and prevalence of IPT, examining documented mechanisms and evaluating such potential ecological and evolutionary consequences. We compiled existing evidence of interspecific pollinator sharing and interspecific pollinator switching between flowers of different species in natural communities. We evaluated the relative importance of both HPD and CPL from studies comparing these variables in pure vs. mixed floral neighborhoods, analyzing evidence for the claim that IPT is an evolutionary force promoting character displacement in habitat affinity, flowering times, and floral morphology. We also examined the findings of hand-pollination experiments carried out to reveal different mechanisms by which heterospecific pollen can affect performance of native pollen. Finally, we review evidence for impacts of alien plant species on native species' reproduction, and briefly comment on risks of crop-to-wild gene flow imposed by the release of genetically modified (transgenic) crops through IPT.     

Seasonal and annual variations in the pollination efficiency of a pollinator community of Dictamnus albus L.

The interplay between insect and plant traits outlines the patterns of pollen transfer and the subsequent plant reproductive fitness. We studied the factors that affect the pollination efficiency of a pollinator community of Dictamnus albus L. by evaluating insect behaviour and morphological characteristics in relation to flowering phenology. In order to extrapolate the pollinator importance of single taxa and of the whole pollinator guild, we calculated an index distinguishing between potential (PPI) and realized (RPI) pollinator importance. Although the pollinator species spectrum appeared rather constant, we found high intra‐ and inter‐annual variability of pollinator frequency and importance within the insect community. Flower visitation rate strictly depended on insect abundance and on the overlap between their flying period and flower blooming. All the pollinators visited flowers from the bottom to the top of the racemes, excluding intra‐plant geitonogamous pollination, and most of them showed high pollen fidelity. Only medium large‐sized bees could contact the upward bending stiles while feeding on nectar, highlighting a specialisation of the plant towards bigger pollinators. Moreover, we found evidence of functional specialisation, since all pollinators were restricted to a single taxonomic group (order: Hymenoptera; superfamily: Apoidea). Both the PPI and RPI indices indicate Habropoda tarsata as the most important pollinator of D. albus. Following hand cross‐pollination experiments we revealed the presence of pollination limitation in 1 of the 3 years of field study. We discuss this result in relation to flowering abundance and to possible mismatches of phenological periods between plants and insects.     

Pollinator dependence but no pollen limitation for eight plants occurring north of the Arctic Circle

Effective interactions between plants and pollinators are essential for the reproduction of plant species. Pollinator exclusion experiments and pollen supplementation experiments quantify the degree to which plants depend on animal pollinators and the degree to which plant reproduction is pollen limited. Pollen supplementation experiments have been conducted across the globe, but are rare in high latitude regions. To fill this knowledge gap, we experimentally investigated the dependence on animal pollinators and magnitude of pollen limitation in eight plant species north of the Arctic Circle in Lapland, Finland. Our findings show that all plant species were pollinator dependent, but not pollen limited. We discuss several mechanisms that might buffer our focal plants from pollen limitation, including plant and pollinator generalization, and attractive plant traits. Our results demonstrate that many plant species north of the Arctic Circle are currently receiving adequate pollinator service and provide a baseline for future comparisons of pollinator dependence and pollen limitation in the Arctic across space and time.     

Displacement of flowering phenologies among plant species by competition for generalist pollinators

We model the evolution of allochronic isolation between sympatric animal‐pollinated plant species via displacement of their flowering times. The plant species share generalist pollinators and either produce inviable hybrid seeds or do not hybridize at all. Displacement of flowering times between reproductively isolated species reduces competition for pollinators and the formation of inviable hybrid seeds. Under strong pollen limitation, competition for pollinators causes rapid evolution of allochronic isolation both for hybridizing and nonhybridizing species. Under weak pollen limitation, allochronic isolation evolves rapidly for hybridizing species but more slowly for nonhybridizing species. Positive density‐dependent pollinator visitation rate at low flower densities facilitates allochronic isolation under weak pollen limitation. Allochronic isolation among sympatric species sharing generalist pollinators could be common under any intensity of pollen limitation if the flowering season is sufficiently long.     

Pollinator response to female and male floral display in a monoecious species and its implications for the evolution of floral dimorphism

Pollinator-mediated selection has been hypothesized as one cause of size dimorphism between female and male flowers. Flower number, ignored in studies of floral dimorphism, may interact with flower size to affect pollinator selectivity. In the present study, we explored pollinator response, and estimated pollen receipt and removal, in experimental populations of monoecious Sagittaria trifolia, in which plants were manipulated to display three, six, nine or 12 female or male flowers per plant. In this species, female flowers are smaller but have a more compressed flowering period than males, creating larger female floral displays. Overall, pollinators preferred to visit male rather than female displays of the same size. Both first visit per foraging bout and visitation rates to female displays increased with display size. However, large male displays did not show increased attractiveness to pollinators. A predicted relationship that pollen removal, rather than pollen receipt, is limited by pollinator visitation was confirmed in the experimental populations. The results suggest that the lack of selection on large male displays may affect the evolution of floral dimorphism in this species.     

Bumble-bee learning selects for both early and long flowering in food-deceptive plants

Most rewardless orchids engage in generalized food-deception, exhibiting floral traits typical of rewarding species and exploiting the instinctive foraging of pollinators. Generalized food-deceptive (GFD) orchids compete poorly with rewarding species for pollinator services, which may be overcome by flowering early in the growing season when relatively more pollinators are naive and fewer competing plant species are flowering, and/or flowering for extended periods to enhance the chance of pollinator visits. We tested these hypotheses by manipulating flowering time and duration in a natural population of Calypso bulbosa and quantifying pollinator visitation based on pollen removal. Both early and long flowering increased bumble-bee visitation compared with late and brief flowering, respectively. To identify the cause of reduced visitation during late flowering, we tested whether negative experience with C. bulbosa (avoidance learning) and positive experience with a rewarding species, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, (associative learning) by captive bumble-bees could reduce C. bulbosa's competitiveness. Avoidance learning explained the higher visitation of early- compared with late-flowering C. bulbosa. The resulting pollinator-mediated selection for early flowering may commonly affect GFD orchids, explaining their tendency to flower earlier than rewarding orchids. For dissimilar deceptive and rewarding sympatric species, associative learning may additionally favour early flowering by GFD species.     

Temporal and sexual variation of leaf-produced pollinator-attracting odours in the dwarf palm

Information on intra-specific variation in pollinator-attracting floral traits provides clues to selective pressures imposed by pollinators. However, these traits also reflect constraints related to floral phenology or morphology. The specific weevil pollinator Derelomus chamaeropsis of the dioecious Mediterranean dwarf palm Chamaerops humilis is attracted by volatile compounds that leaves, and not flowers, release during anthesis. Production of these olfactory cues is thus probably not constrained by any other floral function. This provides the opportunity to study variation of a floral trait that is not produced by a floral organ. We studied volatile compounds emitted by leaves of 12 individual C. humilis over the whole flowering season. The quantity of volatile compounds emitted by leaves reached a maximum when plants required pollinator visits. The relationship between odour emission and floral phenology was slightly different between male and female plants, probably reflecting differences in the exact time at which females and males benefit from pollinator visitation. Male plants produced higher quantities of volatile compounds than females. Odour composition was highly variable among individuals but did not differ between male and female plants. In this system, female C. humilis are pollinated by deceit and pollinators should be selected to avoid visiting them. The absence of sexual difference in blend composition may thus prevent pollinators from discriminating between male and female plants.An erratum to this article can be found at     

Evolution of honest reward signal in flowers

Some flowering plants signal the abundance of their rewards by changing their flower colour, scent or other floral traits as rewards are depleted. These floral trait changes can be regarded as honest signals of reward states for pollinators. Previous studies have hypothesized that these signals are used to maintain plant-level attractiveness to pollinators, but the evolutionary conditions leading to the development of honest signals have not been well investigated from a theoretical basis. We examined conditions leading to the evolution of honest reward signals in flowers by applying a theoretical model that included pollinator response and signal accuracy. We assumed that pollinators learn floral traits and plant locations in association with reward states and use this information to decide which flowers to visit. While manipulating the level of associative learning, we investigated optimal flower longevity, the proportion of reward and rewardless flowers, and honest- and dishonest-signalling strategies. We found that honest signals are evolutionarily stable only when flowers are visited by pollinators with both high and low learning abilities. These findings imply that behavioural variation in learning within a pollinator community can lead to the evolution of an honest signal even when there is no contribution of rewardless flowers to pollinator attractiveness.     

Interspecific pollen transfer between two coflowering species was minimized by bumblebee fidelity and differential pollen placement on the bumblebee body

Aims When sympatric flowering plant species in a natural community share pollinators, study of plant–plant interactions via interspecific pollen transfer (IPT) is essential for understanding species coexistence. However, little is known about the extent of IPT between interactive species and its causes.Methods To explore how sympatric flowering plants sharing pollinators minimize deleterious effects of IPT, we investigated the pollination ecology of two endemic species, Salvia przewalskii and Delphinium yuanum, in an alpine meadow in the Hengduan Mountains, southwest China. We quantified conspecific and interspecific visits by shared bumblebee pollinators, amounts of pollen placed on different body sites of the pollinators and stigmatic pollen loads on open-pollinated flowers. To examine whether IPT affects female fitness, we measured pollen germination and seed production in the two species in an artificial pollination experiment.Important findings One bumblebee species, Bombus trifasciatus, was found to be the sole effective pollinator for the two coflowering species. Pollination experiments indicated that deposition of heterospecific pollen could significantly decrease seed set in both species. Experiments showed that S. przewalskii pollen could germinate well on stigmas of D. yuanum, inhibiting conspecific pollen germination in D. yuanum. However, seed set was not lower under open pollination than under cross-pollination within species, suggesting that no female fitness loss was caused by IPT. In foraging bouts with pollinator switches, switches from S. przewalskii to D. yuanum were relatively more frequent (8.27%) than the converse (1.72%). However, IPT from S. przewalskii to D. yuanum accounted for only 1.82% of total stigmatic pollen loads while the reverse IPT to S. przewalskii was 8.70%, indicating that more switches of bumblebees to D. yuanum did not result in higher IPT. By contrast, selection for reduced IPT to S. przewalskii would limit pollinator switches from D. yuanum. We found that a bumblebee generally carried pollen grains from both species but the two species differed in the position of pollen placement on the bumblebee's body; S. przewalskii ' s pollen was concentrated on the dorsal thorax while D. yuanum ' s pollen was concentrated ventrally on the head. This differential pollen placement along with pollinator fidelity largely reduced IPT between the two species with a shared pollinator.     

Effects of distinct pollinators on the mating system and reproductive success in Incarvillea sinensis,an annual with large floral displays

Aims Most flowering plants engage in mutualisms with animals to move pollen between individuals, and it is expected that pollinators play an essential role in the evolution of selfing, yet few studies have determined how distinct pollinator types affect a plant’s mating system and reproductive success differentially. We investigated the effect of two different pollinators on the reproductive success ofIncarvillea sinensis, an annual with showy, insect-pollinated, one-day flowers.     

Pollinator responses to variation in floral display and flower size in dioecious Sagittaria latifolia (Alismataceae)

In animal-pollinated plants with unisexual flowers, sexual dimorphism in floral traits may be the consequence of pollinator-mediated selection. Experimental investigations of the effects of variation in flower size and floral display on pollinator visitation can provide insights into the evolution of floral dimorphism in dioecious plants. Here, we investigated pollinator responses to experimental arrays of dioecious Sagittaria latifolia in which we manipulated floral display and flower size. We also examined whether there were changes in pollinator visitation with increasing dimorphism in flower size. In S. latifolia, males have larger flowers and smaller floral displays than females. Visitation by pollinators, mainly flies and bees, was more frequent for male than for female inflorescences and increased with increasing flower size, regardless of sex. The number of insect visits per flower decreased with increasing floral display in males but remained constant in females. Greater sexual dimorphism in flower size increased visits to male inflorescences but had no influence on the number of visits to female inflorescences. These results suggest that larger flower sizes would be advantageous to both females and males, and no evidence was found that females suffer from increased flower-size dimorphism. Small daily floral displays may benefit males by allowing extended flowering periods and greater opportunities for effective pollen dispersal.