Plants from the orchid family (Orchidaceae) in the Częstochowa Upland (south-central Poland)

In the 1992 and 1993 vegetation seasons, investigations were carried out on the distribution of plants from the orchid family in the area roughly corresponding to the Wyżyna Częstochowska (Częstochowa Upland) mesoregion (341.31 in the classification of Kondracki 1980). During those investigations, sites of occurrence were found for 22 species, 5 interspecific hybrids and 1 intergeneric hybrid. Of special interest are the sites of Russow’s Marsh Orchid (Dactybrhiza russowii), Violet Helleborine (Epipaclis purpurata) and Greater Butterfly Orchid (flatanihera chloraniha) as well as of aJl the nothotaxa, which have never been found in this area before.Zadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 dofinansowane zostało ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej naukę

The pollination of Epipactis Zinn, 1757 (Orchidaceae) species in Central Europe – the significance of chemical attractants, floral morphology and concomitant insects

A series of studies on pollination biology of the Epipactis atrorubens (Hoffm.) Besser, E. purpurata Sm., and E. palustris (L.) Crantz populations was conducted in Poland, Lithuania and Czech Republic between 2003 and 2010. The research focused on pollinators and visitors to aforementioned orchid species as well as on the chemical analysis of orchids' nectar which was done using the GC/MS method. It was found that: 1) the type of pollinators depends on the orchid population size and the surrounding environment, where the temperature and amount of precipitation during the vegetative season are the most vital factors; 2) pollinators and visitors to the examined orchids might differ in successive growing seasons; 3) the studied Epipactis species differ in the chemical composition of their nectar and its scent, which can influence their pollination biology; 4) the tendency to autogamy observed in E. purpurata might be due to lack of pollinators in its habitats

Pollinator-attracting semiochemicals of the wasp-flower Epipactis helleborine

The orchid genus Epipactis is represented by 25 species in Europe (Richards 1982). Epipactis helleborine (L.) Crantz is the most common and widely distributed species of the genus (Wiefelspütz 1970), and is a prime example for wasp-flowers, because it is mainly pollinated by social wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), like Vespula vulgaris and V. germanica (Müller 1873). Darwin (1888) already noticed that E. helleborine is almost exclusively ignored by bees and bumblebees, an observation that was confirmed in recent investigations (Keppert 2001). The flowers of E. helleborine show morphological, physiological and phenological adaptations to the visit and the pollination by Vespidae (Keppert 2001). They possess a reddish-brown or dirty purple coloration of the inflorescence (Keppert 2001), have relatively small, mostly bulbous blossoms with a broad entrance and bulbous widened, nectar-rich juice holders (Müller 1873, 1881; Schremmer 1962). Although there is much reported about wasp-pollinated flowers there is little known about the signals that are responsible for the attraction of wasps. Wiefelspütz (1970) proclaimed the statement that only the visual stimulus is responsible for the wasp attraction. Recently studies, however, assumed that odour is involved in the wasp attraction (Keppert 2001). Hölzler (2003) showed that the main attraction of the wasp-flower Epipactis for pollinators is its olfactory stimulus. It remains an unanswered question why E. helleborine flowers almost exclusively attracts social wasps, as opposed to bees and bumblebees. In this study we analysed the role of floral volatiles which are responsible for the specific attraction of social wasps. We supposed a mimicry-system in E. helleborine for the specific attraction of pollinators for the following reasons. So-called “green leaf volatiles” (GLVs) are emitted by plants while herbivorous insects, for example caterpillars, feed on them. GLVs thereby attract predators or parasitoids of the herbivorous insects (Dicke & Sabelis 1988; Turlings & al. 1990, 1995; Dicke & Vet 1999). Among the GLVs so far identified in former studies there are aldehydes, compounds that were also found in flower extracts of E. helleborine (Hölzler 2003). Therefore, we postulated that E. helleborine flowers produce GLVs in order to attract prey hunting social wasps for pollination. We performed bioassays and analysed flower odour gained to headspace-sampling using gas chromatography (GC), mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography coupled with electrophysiological analysis (GC-EAD) to investigate the hypothesis that E. helleborine flowers mimic “green leaf volatiles” (GLVs) to attract their pollinators.Die Orchideenart Epipactis helleborine gilt als typische Wespenblume. Die Blüten weisen Anpassungen an den Besuch und die Bestäubung durch soziale Faltenwespen (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) auf und werden häufig durch Vespula vulgaris und V. germanica bestäubt. In früheren Untersuchungen konnte gezeigt werden, dass olfaktorische Reize bei der Bestäuberanlockung eine übergeordnete Bedeutung vor optischen Reizen haben (Hölzler 2003). Die Frage, warum E. helleborine fast ausschließlich ihren optimalen Bestäuber, die soziale Faltenwespe, zur Bestäubung anlockt, und nicht auch auf andere Blütenbesucher attraktiv wirkt, ist noch unbeantwortet. Wir untersuchten die Hypothese, dass E. helleborine Blüten GLVs, die von Herbivoren befallenen Pflanzen abgegeben werden, nachahmen, um Beute jagende Wespen zur Bestäubung anzulocken. Dazu sammelten und analysierten wir Duftstoffe von Epipactis Blüten und mit Pieris-Raupen befallenen Kohl und identifizierten vier gemeinsam vorkommende GLVs. In Y-Rohrtests konnte die wespenanlockende Wirkung dieser Verbindungen nachgewiesen werden

Egy ismeretlen „őserdő” a Kelet-Mecsekben : 25 éve felhagyott bükkös aljnövényzetének térbeli mintázatai = A scarcely known old-growth forest in Eastern Mecsek hills : Spatial patterns of the herb layer of a beech forest abandoned 25 years ago

A 130-years old beech forest stand (Helleboro odori – Fagetum) in Eastern Mecsek hills (Southern Hungary), abandoned 22-25 years ago, provides excellent opportunities for the study of spontaneous forest dynamics. In 2010 intensive studies started, iniciated by Mecsekerdő Zrt: repeating an individuum-based tree-stand survey of 1986-87, and a gridbased herb layer survey according to the Forest Reserve Protocol. In the herb layer 95 species were found, amongst them 14 protected ones, most of them in the hillside-hilltop ecotone. Most important are the more thousand exemplars of Doronicum orientale. More than 30% percentage of specialist and competitor species indicates a very good naturalness state, comparable with forest reserves

Phenological responses of British orchids and their pollinators to climate change: an assessment using herbarium and museum collections

Climate change might de-couple plant-pollinator relationships if species respond differentially to environmental cues, such as temperature, but studies have been hindered by lack of long-term data. This research validates natural history collections as a source of long-term phenological data and, using these data, investigates the phenological responses to temperature of flowering in British orchids and flight in their pollinators. Herbarium specimens of O. sphegodes collected in the UK between 1848 and 1958 were compared to direct observation of peak flowering time in one population located in Southern England between 1975 and 2006. The response of flowering time to variation in mean spring temperature was statistically identical in both sets of data, providing the first direct validation of the use of herbarium collections to examine the relationships between phenology and climate. Using three important pollinator models: the solitary bee Andrena nigroaenea the digger wasp Argogorytes mystaceus, and the moth Euclidia glyphica, museum specimens and field observation gave statistically identical results, confirming the value of museum collections as a source of long-term phenological data for insects. For twelve of the fifteen orchid species studied, flowering advanced between 4.2 and 8.6 days for each 1°C increase in mean spring temperature, establishing phenological signals of flowering response to temperature. For all species mean monthly temperature in March, April or May was identified as a key temperature variable. For the sexually deceptive orchid O. sphegodes there is considerable potential for a loss of synchrony between peak flowering time and peak flight of the primary pollinator, males of A. nigroaenea with further rises in spring temperature. The advancement in peak flight of the female bee with climate warming exacerbates the potential for disruption of pollination success. Findings of this research reaffirm the need for detailed knowledge at species level in understanding the consequences of climate-driven phenological shifts for plants and their pollinators. Key words: Central England Temperature (CET), climate change, flight time, flowering time, herbarium specimens, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, museum records, natural history collections, Orchidaceae, phenolog

Fundorte bemerkenswerter Pflanzenarten in Sachsen-Anhalt

In diesem Beitrag werden Neufunde (bezogen auf die Rastereinheit Messtischblatt-Quadrant) ab dem Jahr 2000 sowie Wiederbestätigungen bemerkenswerter Farn- und Blütenpflanzen in Sachsen-Anhalt genannt, welche die Kenntnisse über die Verbreitung der Arten im Bundesland erweitern sowie mögliche Tendenzen andeuten. Die zeitlichen Angaben beziehen sich auf den Kenntnisstand des „Verbreitungsatlas der Farn- und Blütenpflanzen Ostdeutschlands“ (BENKERT et al. 1996) sowie auf aktuelle Kartierungsmitteilungen

Bibliographie botanischer Literatur über Sachsen-Anhalt 2011/2012

Die Bibliographie zur botanischen Literatur über Sachsen-Anhalt wird mit Nachträgen für 2009–2011 sowie den bisher zugänglichen Publikationen und Abschlussarbeiten von 2012 fortgesetzt