Cycad pollinators

virtualpalm · Post by **virtualpalm** » Sat Jul 05, 2008 6:55 pm

Today was the first time I actually observed pollinators on a cycad cone in my yard. The plant is a male Zamia furfuracea x floridana and the pollinator is Rhopalotria mollis from Mexico (introduced to south Florida via thousands of wild-collected Z. furfuracea plants back in the 1970s). I thought you guys might enjoy this.

And here is an example of the "fruits of their labor" from last year: a "volunteer" triple hybrid seedling resulting from open pollination of the Zamia furfuracea x floridana female and a Z. variegata male that was coning nearby.

Jody

Knnn · Post by **Knnn** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 7:39 am

Interesting hybrid, even more so that it was naturally pollinated

Steve

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 10:02 am

Great timing for those pics, Jody.
Despite their obvious benefit to cycads, are they considered pests once they've completed their pollination?
Presumably they would move on to other plants.
Barb

Kansas · Post by **Kansas** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 3:28 pm

Jody, while I was in Florida, the neighbors had a BIG Revoluta that had a female cone. She is REALLY old lady that wanted to help me out. WHen will the seeds be ready to pick if they get pollinated?

virtualpalm · Post by **virtualpalm** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 4:36 am

lucky1 wrote:Despite their obvious benefit to cycads, are they considered pests once they've completed their pollination?

They do not cause any problem at all to the plants. This an obligate species that lays its eggs in the sporophylls of the male cone, where their larvae develop to maturity.

Jody

virtualpalm · Post by **virtualpalm** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 4:38 am

Kansas wrote:Jody, while I was in Florida, the neighbors had a BIG Revoluta that had a female cone. She is REALLY old lady that wanted to help me out. WHen will the seeds be ready to pick if they get pollinated?

This species usually takes about 6 months, but the seeds will not likley be any good if you (or someone) didn't hand-pollinate the female cone. I have seen an occasional viable C. revoluta seed from a natural pollination (either wind or some random insect vector), but it is rare.

Jody

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:49 am

Good to know, Jody.
Thanks for posting those superb pics of the pollination process.

We'll watch with interest as that hybrid develops.
Barb

Kansas · Post by **Kansas** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 1:32 pm

virtualpalm wrote:
Kansas wrote:Jody, while I was in Florida, the neighbors had a BIG Revoluta that had a female cone. She is REALLY old lady that wanted to help me out. WHen will the seeds be ready to pick if they get pollinated?
This species usually takes about 6 months, but the seeds will not likley be any good if you (or someone) didn't hand-pollinate the female cone. I have seen an occasional viable C. revoluta seed from a natural pollination (either wind or some random insect vector), but it is rare.

Jody

There was a cluster of about 3 Revolutas that had Male cones, only about 200'-300' away. I picked some seeds that were from the last time that still had a little old fruit on them, are these any good you think?

virtualpalm · Post by **virtualpalm** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 5:36 pm

Kansas wrote:There was a cluster of about 3 Revolutas that had Male cones, only about 200'-300' away. I picked some seeds that were from the last time that still had a little old fruit on them, are these any good you think?

That is pretty far away for wind pollination. But if the seeds were full-sized, then it is likely that they were pollinated. If you have several, you may want to cut one open and see if it has an embryo.

Jody

Kansas · Post by **Kansas** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 4:48 am

Yea, they were normal size seeds, the size I usually get that pop.
Thanks buddy, I'll keep you updated.

Knnn · Post by **Knnn** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 7:54 pm

Jody,

Does the Rhopalotria mollis also serve as a pollinator for Zamia floridana?
How about Eumaeus atala ?

Are they any pollinators for Cycas & Dioons in the US?

Sorry for all the questions, just curious.........

Steve

virtualpalm · Post by **virtualpalm** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 4:44 am

Knnn wrote:Jody,

Does the Rhopalotria mollis also serve as a pollinator for Zamia floridana?
How about Eumaeus atala ?

Are they any pollinators for Cycas & Dioons in the US?

Sorry for all the questions, just curious.........

Steve

Steve,

The native Florida coontie is pollinated by a native snout weevil, Rhopalotria slossoni, and a native clavicorn beetle, Pharaxonotha zamiae. The pollinator of the Mexican zamias, R. mollis, was introduced from Mexico and does not pollinate coontie or the other Caribbean zamias.

Eumaeus atala is a native hairstreak butterfly whose larvae feed on the native coontie as well as numerous other cultivated cycads here in south Florida. It has nothing to do with pollination.

There are no pollinators of Cycas in the US that I know of, although some species can occasionally be wind-pollinated if male and female plants are growing close to one another. As for Dioon, I doubt that any pollinators have been introduced from the countries of endemicity, but there is some kind of as-yet unknown insect that pollinates D. spinulosum here in south Florida, as fertile seeds have been produced by plants that were not hand-pollinated on several occasions in different parts of the south Florida region.

I don't mind answering questions about cycads... please keep them coming!

Jody

Knnn · Post by **Knnn** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 10:00 am

Jody,

Thank You for the Info!
Hoping to see some cones on my Zamias next year, if so, I will have plenty of questions

Steve

Kansas · Post by **Kansas** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 7:04 pm

Of the 5 King seeds I brought home one year ago from Lake City (earlier in the thread), 1 rotted, 2 have not popped, 1 is sproated and sending out it's tap root, and the other has rooted and is shooting it's starter leaf as I type this.
This is very exciting since I SUCK at seed germinating and these are from the part of Florida I want to move to.