Thanks for this interesting information. I came to know about this genus for the first time.
Dr Satish Phadke On 11 October 2013 06:06, Pankaj Kumar <[email protected]> wrote: > You all will be surprised that even with so much high profile > modifications in labellum, there are still some species like Ophrys > apifera which is actually shows self pollination in nature. > Yes they are amazing.... > All plants are amazing, but orchids have a totally different world. > Pankaj > > > On Fri, Oct 11, 2013 at 8:33 AM, Nidhan Singh <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Thanks for sharing this very useful information Pankaj Ji, they are truly > > marvels of nature as said by Rawat Ji..really much needed information for > > many of us.. > > > > > > On Thu, Oct 10, 2013 at 10:35 PM, D.S Rawat < > [email protected]> > > wrote: > >> > >> Ophrys are truly marvels of evolution. A very peculiar case of > >> trans-kingdom production of some very complicated chemicals. Plants may > be > >> stationary, non speaking or thinking living things but they are > certainly > >> clever enough to fool the insects. Great evolutionary > >> relationship...coevolution at work. > >> Thanks Pankaj Ji for this informative post. > >> DSRawat Pantnagar > >> > >> > >> On Thursday, October 10, 2013 5:27:03 PM UTC+5:30, Dr Pankaj Kumar > 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. > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Regards, > > > > Dr. Nidhan Singh > > Assistant Professor > > Department of Botany > > I.B. (PG) College > > Panipat-132103 Haryana > > Ph.: 09416371227 > > > > -- > > 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. > -- 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.
