ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Functional Plant Ecology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1569420
This article is part of the Research TopicFloral Adaptations and Pollinator Dynamics in a Rapidly Changing EnvironmentView all 11 articles
Untangling the Reproductive Puzzle: How Floral Traits, Pollinator Behavior, and Breeding Strategy Shape Reproductive Success in the Himalayan Medicinal Herb Phytolacca acinosa Roxb
Provisionally accepted
Junaid Ahmad Magray1,2*
Bilal Ahmad Wani1,2Prof Irshad A Nawchoo1,2Aijaz Hassan Ganie1Hanan Javid1Roof Ul Qadir1- 1Department of Botany, School of Biological Sciences, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, India
- 2University of Kashmir, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
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Understanding the reproductive ecology of plants is crucial for devising strategies for their sustainable utilization and effective conservation. In this context, the present study investigates the reproductive biology of Phytolacca acinosa, a multipurpose medicinal herb of the Himalaya. The study aimed to examine the floral and pollen biology, breeding behavior, and pollination ecology of the species to inform conservation strategies. The results showed significant variation in floral traits across sites along an elevational gradient, reflecting reproductive adaptation to varying environmental conditions. Pollen grains were found to be tricolpate, prolate, and ellipsoidal. The pollen-ovule ratio indicates a facultative xenogamous breeding system is operative in the target species. Reproductive indices, including the outcrossing index (OCI), self-incompatibility index (SI), and selfing rate (S), along with bagging experiments, revealed that the species is both self-and cross-compatible.Moreover, Phytolacca acinosa exhibits a mixed mating strategy, favoring geitonogamy over xenogamy. The pollination syndrome is ambophilous, with generalist pollinators-mainly from the order Hymenoptera-playing a dominant role. Based on insect visitation efficiency and pollen load on insect body, Crabronidae and Apis cerana indica were identified as the most effective pollinators. Although the inflorescence architecture, stigmatic movement, and likely apocarpous nature favor geitonogamy, the breeding system of P. acinosa does not conform strictly to a particular evolutionary strategy, oscillating between selfing and outcrossing. Overall, the findings offer valuable insights that will contribute to the development of effective conservation and sustainable utilization strategies for this highvalue medicinal species.
Keywords: Reproductive ecology, Pollen biology, Mixed mating, ambophily, evolution, conservation
Received: 31 Jan 2025; Accepted: 04 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Magray, Wani, Nawchoo, Ganie, Javid and Qadir. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Junaid Ahmad Magray, Department of Botany, School of Biological Sciences, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, India
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