I haven't been following OGD threads as diligently as in the past so excuse me if this has already been discussed. Someone asked me the other day about autogamy in orchids - particularly the Chinese orchid Holcoglossum amesianum which apparently has the ability to pollinate itself by the stipe moving to bring the pollinia into contact with the stigma.(See article at http://www.livescience.com/environment/060621_orchid_sex.html) The article on this disovery by Chinese botanists was published in the Nature magazine.
I'm by no means a botanist but I said I would do some "research" - which in my case is Google. The person was interested in this deliberate form of autogamy. He mentioned a species of Liparis from Hawaii may have this ability. He asked a contact there but they did not know of this other than it would not be surprising, given the scarcity of orchid species and pollinators in Hawaii. I know there are quite a few orchids that are autogamous due to the ease which the pollinia can "fall into" the stigma e.g. Thelymitra spp. Does anyone know about the Liparis mentioned or of other taxa that has the ability to self-pollinate by movement of the column? Cheers...Steve _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
