Nice information Pankaj ji. Thanks for Sharing
On Thu, Oct 10, 2013 at 6:22 PM, Pankaj Kumar <[email protected]>wrote: > It was really memorable for me too when I saw them in wild. In two > days I saw 6 species.... just kind of heavenly experience. > Pankaj > > > On Thu, Oct 10, 2013 at 7:58 PM, Gurcharan Singh <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Thanks for this very useful information Pankaj ji > > > > Dr. Gurcharan Singh > > Retired Associate Professor > > SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007 > > Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018. > > Phone: 011-25518297 Mob: 9810359089 > > http://www.gurcharanfamily.com/ > > http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ > > > > > > On Thu, Oct 10, 2013 at 5:27 PM, Pankaj Kumar <[email protected]> > > wrote: > >> > >> Ophrys L. > >> > >> The genus Ophrys is a large group of orchids from the alliance Orchis > >> in the subtribe Orchidinae. These plants are remarkable in that they > >> successfully reproduce through pseudocopulation, that is, their > >> flowers mimic female insects to such a degree that amorous males are > >> fooled into mating with the flowers, thereby pollinating them. There > >> are many natural hybrids. The type species is Ophrys insectifera > >> L.1753 > >> They are referred to as the "Bee orchids" due to the flowers of some > >> species resemblance to the furry bodies of bees and other insects. > >> Their scientific name Ophrys is the Greek word for "eyebrow", > >> referring to the furry edges of the lips of several species. > >> Ophrys was first mentioned in the book "Natural History" by Pliny the > >> Elder (23-79 AD). > >> > >> Biology > >> > >> They are terrestrial or ground orchids from central to South Europe, > >> North Africa, Asia Minor, up to the Caucasus Mountains, but mostly in > >> the Mediterranean region. They have been said to be the most important > >> group of European terrestrial orchids. > >> During summer, all Ophrys orchids are dormant as underground bulbous > >> tubers, which serve as a food reserve. In late summer/autumn they > >> develop a rosette of leaves. Also a new tuber starts to grow and > >> matures until the following spring; the old tuber slowly dies. The > >> next spring the flowering stem starts to grow. During flowering the > >> leaves have already started to wither. > >> Most Ophrys orchids are dependent on symbiotic fungi. Transplanting > >> specimens, especially wild specimens, is difficult, sometimes > >> impossible, due to this symbiosis unless a large amount of surrounding > >> earth is also taken with the plant. All orchids are protected under > >> CITES II and should not be removed or disturbed in habitat. > >> The shiny, basal leaves have a green or bluish color. Two to twelve > >> flowers grow on an erect stem with basal leaves. These species are > >> successfully cultivated by specialist growers of terrestrial orchids > >> and are reported to be difficult to grow, being sensitive to rotting > >> and damping off diseases if not properly subjected to a cool and dry > >> aestivation period over the summer months with no water. > >> > >> Pollination > >> > >> Orchids of the genus Ophrys use sexual deception to attract > >> pollinators to their flowers. In sexual deception, an orchid attracts > >> male pollinators by producing the sex pheromone of virgin female > >> pollinators in addition to providing visual and tactile cues (Schiestl > >> 2005; Schluter et al. 2009; Stokl et al. 2009). These signals > >> stimulate mating behavior in the male pollinators, which then attempt > >> copulation, called “pseudocopulation”, with the orchid labellum > >> (Schluter et al. 2009). During pseudocopulation, pollen from the > >> flower’s column becomes attached to some part of the pollinator, > >> usually the head or abdomen, and the pollinator inadvertently carries > >> and transfers this pollen to other flowers when they are once again > >> enticed into pseudocopulation. While the morphological cues such as > >> the shape and texture of the labellum play a role especially at close > >> range in inducing the pollinator mating behavior, the orchid’s > >> pheromone mimic, or allomone, has been shown to play the most > >> important role in enticing pollinators to the flower (Schiestl 2005; > >> Schluter et al. 2009). > >> The allomone produced by an orchid is specific to its pollinator, of > >> which it usually only has one (Ayasse et al. 2007; Gogler et al. 2009, > >> Schluter et al. 2009) . The allomone is a mixture of alkenes and > >> alkanes (Schiestl and Cozzolino 2008). There are one or more active > >> species in this mixture that account for the attraction of pollinators > >> (Vereeken and Schiestl 2008). Pollinators and orchids use the same > >> chemical compounds in the same absolute amounts in their pheromones > >> and allomones, respectively (Schiestl 2008). > >> Every Ophrys orchid has its own pollinator insect and is completely > >> dependent on this species for its survival. Duped males are less > >> likely to return and may ignore other plants of the same species. Only > >> about 10% of an Ophrys population gets pollinated. This is enough to > >> preserve the population, since each Ophrys orchid produces about > >> 12,000 minute seeds. > >> > >> Species > >> > >> The number of species recognized within the genus varies very widely > >> between authorities. Flora Europaea in 1980 and Pedersen & Faurholdt > >> in 2007 listed about 20 species in Europe as a whole; Buttler in 1991 > >> increased this to 53 for slightly larger geographical area; Delforge > >> in 1995 gave a total of 130 species. By contrast, a molecular > >> phylogenetic study in 2008 suggested that there were around 10 > >> distinguishable groups. As of March 2012, the World Checklist of > >> Selected Plant Families recognizes 34 species of Ophrys worldwide, > >> along with their subspecies. > >> > >> SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA > >> > >> -- > >> *********************************************************** > >> Pankaj Kumar, Ph.D. > >> IUCN-SSC Orchid Specialist Group Asia > >> > >> Office: > >> Conservation Officer > >> Orchid Conservation Section > >> Flora Conservation Department > >> Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG) Corporation > >> Lam Kam Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong. > >> Residence: > >> 151, 1st Floor, Tai Om Tsuen > >> Lam Tsuen, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong. > >> > >> email: [email protected]; [email protected] > >> Phone: +852 2483 7128 (office - 8:30am to 5:00pm); +852 9436 6251 > >> (mobile). Fax: +852 2483 7194 > >> > >> -- > >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups > >> "efloraofindia" group. > >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send > an > >> email to [email protected]. > >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/indiantreepix. > >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > > > > > > -- > *********************************************************** > Pankaj Kumar, Ph.D. > IUCN-SSC Orchid Specialist Group Asia > > Office: > Conservation Officer > Orchid Conservation Section > Flora Conservation Department > Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG) Corporation > Lam Kam Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong. > Residence: > 151, 1st Floor, Tai Om Tsuen > Lam Tsuen, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong. > > email: [email protected]; [email protected] > Phone: +852 2483 7128 (office - 8:30am to 5:00pm); +852 9436 6251 > (mobile). Fax: +852 2483 7194 > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "efloraofindia" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/indiantreepix. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > -- Regards Dr Balkar Singh Head, Deptt. of Botany and Biotechnology & Horticulture Incharge Arya P G College, Panipat Haryana-132103 09416262964 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "efloraofindia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/indiantreepix. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
