A novel case of autogamy and cleistogamy in Dendrobium wangliangii: A rare orchid distributed in the dry‐hot valley

• Published in: Ecology and evolution Vol. 9; no. 22; pp. 12906 - 12914
• Main Authors: Wang, Qiuxia, Shao, Shicheng, Su, Yuan, Hu, Xueli, Shen, Yong, Zhao, Dake
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01-11-2019; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Advantages; Animal behavior; Animal reproduction; Autogamy; cleistogamy; Dendrobium; Dendrobium wangliangii; Drought; drought adaption; Endangered species; Epiphytes; Flowers; Flowers & plants; Fruit set; Fruits; Investigations; mating system; Morphology; Original Research; Phenology; Plant reproduction; Pollination; Pollinators; Rain; Self-fertilization; Valleys; China; mating system; cleistogamy; Dendrobium wangliangii; autogamy; drought adaption; fruit set
• ISSN: 2045-7758; 2045-7758
• DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5772

Dendrobium wangliangii is an epiphytic orchid distributed in the Jinshajiang dry‐hot valley in Luquan County, Yunnan Province, China. Most Dendrobium spp. typically have a low fruit set, but this orchid shows a higher fruit set under natural conditions despite the lack of effective pollinators. The pollination biology of the critically endangered D. wangliangii was investigated in this study. A fruit set rate of 33.33 ± 4.71% was observed after bagging treatment in 2017 and a high fruit set rate (65.72 ± 4.44% in 2011; 50.79 ± 5.44% in 2017) was observed under natural conditions, indicating that D. wangliangii is characterized by spontaneous self‐pollination. The anther cap blocked the growing pollinium; thus, the pollinium slid down and reached the stigmatic cavity, leading to autogamous self‐pollination. Specifically, 51.50% of 162 unopened flowers (total 257 flowers) of this Dendrobium species under extreme water‐deficit conditions developed into fruits, suggesting the presence of cleistogamy in D. wangliangii. Here, cleistogamy may represent the primary mode of pollination for this orchid. Spontaneous self‐pollination and specific cleistogamous autogamy could represent major adaptions to the drought and pollinator‐scarce habitat in the Jinshajiang dry‐hot valley.
Dendrobium wangliangii is an epiphytic orchid distributed in the Jinshajiang dry‐hot valley in Luquan County, Yunnan Province, China. D. wangliangii is characterized by spontaneous self‐pollination and cleistogamy. This is a novel case on cleistogamous autogamy in Dendrobium.