Srikant ji Thanks for your mail. Flowers which open in the evening are commonly pollinated by night insects, birds or bats, and many fall in the morning. Concerning Bauhinia I found this:
The relationship between the pollination biology of a tropical plant, Bauhinia pauletia, and the foraging strategies of the nectarivorous bats visiting it was studied. At least two bat species are pollen vectors, Phyllostomus discolor and Glossophaga soricina. Artibeus jamaicensis and Sturnira lilium were also captured near Bauhinia flowers. Larger bats (P. discolor) drain flowers of nectar and forage in groups, while smaller bats (G. soricina) make brief visits and forage independently. These foraging strategies should optimize energetic gain for the bats and promote outcrossing for the plant. Bauhinia pauletia is self—compatible, but is found where conditions favor outcrossing. Andromonoecism(the preence of hermaphrodite and male flowers) in this species appears to be anadaptation to pollination by large pollinators that also promote outcrossing. Pollination and floral biology of seven species of Bauhinia were analyzed between 1982 and 1983 in different Venezuelan plant communities. Bauhinia species are grouped in two sections: Pauletia, which includes trees, and Tylotaea, which includes lianas. The species of sect. Pauletia included in this study (B. aculeata, B. multinervia, B. pauletia, B. ungulata) have comparatively large, white flowers, while the species of sect. Tylotaea (B. glabra, B. guianensis, B. rutilans) exhibit different colors of flowers and variations in form and color of the upper petal. Nectar analyses were made for six Bauhinia species for sugar and amino acid composition. The species of sect. Tylotaea produce less nectar with a higher sugar concentration than those of sect. Pauletia. Hexose is dominant in species of sect. Pauletia except in Bauhinia aculeata, where sucrose is dominant. The species of sect. Tylotaea have comparatively small diurnal flowers and are visited by a great variety of bees, wasps, butterflies, and hummingbirds; those of sect. Pauletia are mainly nocturnal and bat-pollinated, but Bauhinia aculeata showed different behavior and could be intermediate between the two sections. The flower morphology, floral biology, pollinator species, nectar composition, and secretion tend to be associated with the life form of the two sections of Bauhinia. http://www.jstor.org/pss/2399520 http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=21148606 -- Dr. Gurcharan Singh 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://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ On Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 7:24 PM, Shrikant Ingalhalikar <[email protected] > wrote: > > > Dear Mr. Gurcharan Singh, > > Sending a picture of flowers of a lone B. roxburghiana tree at Agharkar > Research Institute, Pune. > > Sir, I have some queries on B. foveolata and B. malabarica. It is not > mentioned in T. Cooke's flora that flowers of both species are unisexual. I > have found both sexes in B. foveolata and only male plants in B. malabarica, > I am on lookout for female plants. B. malabarica is rare in Maharashtra and > in order to make saplings of the same it is important to find female trees > of this species. > > I find that male flowers in both the species are night blooming and are > foetid. The number of flowers is very high. Both have jointed pedicels and > the entire flower with broken pedicel drops down by morning breaking away > from the inflorescence. You would recollect having seen pictures of such > fallen flowers on ITP postings. The male flowers are not sterile. Is this > observation unusual and is it seen in other genera also? > > I would like to know your coments on this. Regards > > Shrikant Ingalhalikar > > On Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:34:26 +0530 wrote > >Uploading this rare tree Bauhinia roxburghiana from Delhi. I thought the > photographs are better than already on our websites Indiantreepix and > Flowersofindia-- Dr. Gurcharan SinghAssociate Professor > SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007Res: 932 Anand Kunj, > Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018.Phone: 011-25518297 Mob: 9810359089 > http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ > > > > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "indiantreepix" group. > > > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<indiantreepix%[email protected]> > . > > > > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/indiantreepix?hl=en. > > > > > > Shrikant Ingalhalikar > 12 Varshanand Society > Anandnagar Sinhagad Road > Pune 411 051. > Tel 91 20 2435 0765. > Fax 91 20 2438 9190. > > <http://sigads.rediff.com/RealMedia/ads/click_nx.ads/www.rediffmail.com/signatureline....@middle?> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "indiantreepix" group. 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