Integrative topic: Meiosis that matters Floral Structure and Pollination Biology

1
Integrative topic Meiosis that matters Floral
Structure and Pollination Biology

• Lecture objectives
• By the end of this lecture you should be able to
• draw and label a simple flower, including the
  sepal, petal, stamen, anther, filament, pistil,
  stigma, style ovary and ovule.
• describe a few basic differences between
  gymnosperms and angiosperms.
• discuss different pollination mechanisms in the
  context of co-evolution.
• Assigned reading pages 591-601 in Campbell
  Reece (focus your reading on the first two topics
  listed above the third will be presented in
  class)

2

• Questions on Sexual Encounters of the Floral
  Kind
•  
• As the film progresses, circle the types of
  pollination discussed
• Wind
• Water
• Insect
• Mammal
• Bird
• Human
•  
• What attracts a Thynnid wasp to an Australian
  Hammer Orchid?
•  
• If he has a choice between going to an orchid and
  mating with a female wasp (both are present) he
  will
• Choose randomly
• Choose the orchid
• Choose the female wasp
• Choose neither
•  
• When an insect cheats it takes nectar or pollen
  to eat, without pollinating a plant. What would
  happen to the plant population if a large
  proportion of insects began to cheat?

3

• Name two night pollinators
• If flowers are used to attract pollinators, why
  do many desert plants have small, inconspicuous
  flowers near the ground?
• How is Central American Ginger pollinated?
• Name two drawbacks of water pollination
• What benefit does the Arctic Rose offer its
  pollinators?
• Why do male orchid bees fall into the clear fluid
  of the South American Bucket Orchid?