Many thanks Pankaj for this wonderful information. Nature always surprises us. Regards. Dinesh
On Fri, Oct 11, 2013 at 2:34 PM, Satish Phadke <[email protected]> wrote: > 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. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "efloraofindia" group. 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