POLLINATION OF 3 SPECIES OF ABUTILON (MALVACEAE) INTERMEDIATE BETWEEN BAT AND HUMMINGBIRD FLOWER SYNDROMES

Some species of Abutilon in southeastern Brazil overlap their flower features between hummingbird and bat pollination syndromes. We studied three such species in the montane rainforest in southeastern Brazil. Abutilon rufinerve, A. regnellii and A. aff. regnellii present the following combination of ornithophilous and chiropterophilous features: bell to bowl-shaped flowers lasting about 30 h, coloured pinkish to purplish, or yellowish, crepuscular (dusk or dawn) anthesis, and very faint cabbage odour. The flowers are visited and pollinated by a species of phyllostomid bat at night, and by several species of hummingbirds during the day. Although somewhat intermediate between ornithophily and chiropterophily, the floral features of the three species of Abutilon tend towards the bat-pollination syndrome.