Study on pollination biology of Melastoma affine

The pollination biology of Melastoma affine Linn.was studied in three populations in Fuzhou,Fujian Province,southeastern China.The flowers of M.affine came into blossom at 5:30-7:00,into ful1-blossom at 7:40-8:10 and into petal-shut at 16:30-17:30.The florescence of individual flower and population flowers were 12 h and(53±5) days respectively.There was no nectar in the flowers.The species of flower-visiting insects were Apoidea,Syrphidae,Tutelidae,etc.The effective pollinators were carpenter bees,honeybees,etc.A carpenter bee was the most active insect among them.The field experiments indicated that the fruit sets were significantly high in both artificially out-crossed and self-pollinated flowers,while no fruit set was observed in bagged emasculated flowers and the unpollinated bagged flowers.These facts indicated that there was no self-compatible,no self-pollination and agamospermy in this species.Pollinated-insects were necessary for it.The breeding system of M.affine was a typical facultative inbred type.