POLLINATION ECOLOGY OF A SEAGRASS,THALASSIA TESTUDINUM (HYDROCHARITACEAE), IN ST. CROIX

The reproductive ecology of a dioecious Caribbean seagrass, Thalassia testudinum was studied in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Flowering in Thalassia coincided with spring tides with anthesis and anther dehiscence in staminate plants occurring at night. As predicted by search theory, pollen is dispersed in negatively buoyant rafts of pollen grains (that superficially resemble strings of frog spawn) which are bound by a slime of apparent thecal origin. Dispersal of pollen is submarine and approximately two-dimensional along the plane of the substratum. The stigmas on pistillate plants are linear, stiff, and densely papillate; they protrude from the mouth of the subtending leaf. Floral ratios of staminate to pistillate flowers were 60 to 1 with an average distance of 4.0 cm from pistillate flower to the closest staminate flowers. Populations included a high proportion of short shoots with numerous (> 100) leaf scars indicating ages for these axes of up to 3–4 years. Nonflowering shoots can be sexed and frequency of flowering can be assessed from scars of old inflorescences. Preliminary results suggest that there is no regular pattern of flowering, since the interval between flowering events is variable.