The fate of flowers and fruits of Cornus sanguinea L. in three contrasting Mediterranean habitats

Summary In the Mediterranean region of southern France, the fate of flowers and fruits of Cornus sanguinea, a deciduous shrub, was studied in three contrasting habitats: (1) an abandoned olive grove, (2) the edge and (3) the interior of a deciduous forest. Abundance of flowering and fruiting of C. sanguinea differed widely between the three habitats. The fate of the flowers, on the other hand, did not differ significantly between habitats. Taking all three habitats together, 77% of the flowers aborted, 23% initiated fruits, 6% developed mature fruits, and 3% produced ripe fruits that were eaten by birds. Likewise, there were for the most part no significant differences in the fate of immature and mature fruits between the habitats. On average, 58% of the immature fruits were abscised undamaged, 24% matured, 10% were damaged by insects and 8% dried up. Of the mature fruits, on average, 51% were eaten by birds, 23% damaged by insects, 20% dried up and 6% fell to the ground undamaged. Independent of habitat conditions, C. sanguinea seems to regulate the quantity of its seed crop primarily by limiting the number of flowers and secondarily by aborting surplus immature fruits, and the number of flowers is mainly controled by resource availability and genetic factors. In the case of C. sanguinea, both the fruit/flower ratio and the proportion of flowers producing mature fruits that are eaten by birds remain constant over a wide range of environmental conditions.