Module: | Pollination & Outbreeding Devices
Q60: Consider the following statements regarding the pollination mechanism in Salvia:
1. Salvia utilizes a highly specialized turnpipe or lever mechanism to effectively guarantee cross-pollination.
2. In this structural adaptation, the elongated sterile connective of the stamen acts as a lever that physically swings down to dust pollen onto a visiting insect's back.
3. Salvia flowers are primarily pollinated by water currents, making this lever mechanism a classic hydrophilous evolutionary adaptation.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
2. In this structural adaptation, the elongated sterile connective of the stamen acts as a lever that physically swings down to dust pollen onto a visiting insect's back.
3. Salvia flowers are primarily pollinated by water currents, making this lever mechanism a classic hydrophilous evolutionary adaptation.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
✅ Correct Answer: A
The correct option is A. Statements 1 and 2 are correct, but Statement 3 is entirely incorrect.
The genus Salvia (belonging to the mint family, Lamiaceae) exhibits one of the most mechanically complex pollination systems in the plant kingdom, heavily tested in advanced botany.
The flower possesses a unique, two-lipped bilabiate corolla.
Structurally, the stamen is modified: the connective tissue separating the two anther lobes is massively elongated.
The upper lobe is fertile, while the lower lobe is sterile and acts as a pedal.
When a foraging insect (like a bee) lands on the lower lip of the petal and pushes inside for nectar, it hits the sterile lobe.
This triggers the lever mechanism, causing the fertile upper lobe to swing down violently and strike the insect's back, depositing pollen.
Statement 3 is completely false; this is a textbook example of entomophily (insect pollination), not hydrophily.
The genus Salvia (belonging to the mint family, Lamiaceae) exhibits one of the most mechanically complex pollination systems in the plant kingdom, heavily tested in advanced botany.
The flower possesses a unique, two-lipped bilabiate corolla.
Structurally, the stamen is modified: the connective tissue separating the two anther lobes is massively elongated.
The upper lobe is fertile, while the lower lobe is sterile and acts as a pedal.
When a foraging insect (like a bee) lands on the lower lip of the petal and pushes inside for nectar, it hits the sterile lobe.
This triggers the lever mechanism, causing the fertile upper lobe to swing down violently and strike the insect's back, depositing pollen.
Statement 3 is completely false; this is a textbook example of entomophily (insect pollination), not hydrophily.