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Fig. 5.3 Liparis liliifolia. ( a ) Flower, oblique view; ( b ) flower, exploded view with the sepals and
petals flattened, scale bar = 2 mm
Compatibility and Breeding System
L. liliifolia is self-incompatible (Catling 1983 ; Gregg 1989 ). Moreover, fruiting suc-
cess is positively related to the distance between parent plants. In a 5-year study at
THE 3MITHSONIAN %NVIRONMENTAL 2ESEARCH #ENTER NEAR !NNAPOLIS -ARYLAND
Whigham and O'Neill ( 1991 ) found that random hand pollination among caged
plants growing within an area of about 400 m 2 produced fruit set in 29.4% of the
flowers pollinated. Similar hand pollination between plants separated by a distance
of about 1 km resulted in a fruit set of 62.8%. No fruit was set when pollen was
exchanged between nearest neighbors presumably because of incompatibility
among asexually generated individuals.
Pollinators and Pollination Mechanisms
The populations of L. liliifolia are small and scattered and might be pollinated casu-
ally by a number of unspecialized insects. However, pollination mechanisms have
yet to be described and the pollinators remain unknown. Catling ( 1984 ) suggested
that the long, arching column in this species (Fig. 5.3a ) could imply a thoracic
attachment of the pollinia or a pollinator with relatively long legs or mouthparts.
2OBERTSON 1929 ) reported species of Hylemya 2OBINEAU$ESVOIDY!NTHOMYIIDAE
Diptera) and Lopidea Uhler ( Lomatopleura 2EUTER-IXIDAE(EMIPTERAASVISI-
tors but not as pollinators.
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