A Survey of the Reproductive Biology of the Myrtoideae (Myrtaceae)

Abstract

The My aria usually present small, epigynous, 4-5-merous, polystemonous flowers that last one day.Bee--pollination in dics ollen is the sole reward is the dominant pollination system.Nectar has been best documented in Syzygium but bbs also occurs in other bee-pollinated genera.The most common bee visitors are Apidae: Meliponinae and Bombinae.Bird-and peste pollination occur in Old World Syzygium with nectar as the primary reward.Bird-pollination with petals as the reward occurs in New World Acca and Myrrhinium.General floral morphology is very uniform, while inflorescence hoe s and flowering strategies are very diverse.Stigmas are dry and ovules are anatropous, hemicampylotropous or anacampylotropous and have an outer 2-6-layered integument a an inner 2-layered integument or a single integument.The ovary usually contains more ovules than will form seeds. Flowering strategies vary from mass-flowering types, in which the flowering episode typically takes only a few days, to steadystate types of up to 90 days duain Flowering at dry/wet season transition is common in seasonal climates, and fire-