Summary
Seed number per pod is negatively skewed in Leucaena leucocephala. Post-fertilisation abortion of pods does not completely explain the skewed distribution. It is shown that a pre-fertilisation regulation effectively restricts the formation of pods with less than a certain number of seeds. The regulation is rendered through the inhibition of pollen grain germination by the stigmatic fluid when the pollen grain is less than a certain critical load in the stigma. Such a control is shown to have implications in the evolution of pollen package units, generation of male gametophytic competition and the economy of packing seeds in pods.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bawa KS, Webb CJ (1984) Flower, fruit and seed abortion in tropical forest trees: implications for the evolution of paternal and maternal reproductive patterns. Am J Bot 71:736–751
Bierzychudek P (1981) Pollinator limitation of plant reproductive effort. Am Nat 117:837–840
Brewbaker JL (1984) Systematics, self-incompatibility, breeding systems and the genetic improvement of Leucaena species. In “Leucaena research in the Asia Pacific region”. Proc. of Workshop, Nov. 1982, IDRC, Ottawa, Canada
Brewbaker JL, Majumdar SK (1961) Cultural studies of the pollen-population effect and the self-incompatibility inhibition. Am J Bot 48:457–464
Cruden RW, Jensen KG (1979) Viscin threads, pollination efficiency and low pollen-ovule ratios. Am J Bot 66:875–879
Janzen DH (1977) A note on optimal mate selection by plants. Am Nat 111:365–371
Janzen DH (1982) Variation in average seed size and fruit seediness in a fruit crop of a Gunacaste tree (Enterolobium cyclocarpum). Am J Bot 69:1169–1178
Kenrick J, Knox RB (1982) Function of the polyad in reproduction of Acacia. Ann Bot 50:721–727
Lee TD (1984) Patterns of fruit maturation: a gametophyte competition hypothesis. Am Nat, 123:427–432
Lee TD, Bazzazz FA (1982a) Regulation of fruit and seed production in an annual legume, Cassis fasciculata. Ecology, 63:1363–1373
Lee TD, Bazzazz FA (1982b) Regulation of fruit maturation pattern in an annual legume, Cassia fasiculata. Ecology, 63:1374–1388
Lloyd DG (1980) Sexual strategies in plants. I. An hypothesis of serial adjustment of maternal investment during one reproductive session. New Phytol 86:69–79
Mulcahy DL (1974) Correlation between speed of pollen tube growth and seedling height in Zea mays L. Nature 249:491–493
Schemske DW (1980) Floral ecology and humming bird pollination of Combretum farinosum in Costa Rica. Biotropica 12:169–181
Snow AA (1982) Pollination intensity and potential seed set in Passiflora vitifolia. Oecologia (Berlin) 55:231–237
Stephenson AG (1981) Flower and fruit abortion: Proximate causes and ultimate function. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 12:253–279
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ganeshaiah, K.N., Uma Shaanker, R. & Shivashankar, G. Stigmatic inhibition of pollen grain germination-its implication for frequency distribution of seed number in pods of Leucaena leucocephala (Lam) de Wit. Oecologia 70, 568–572 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379905
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379905