Deceptive Cypripedium calceolus shares more floral scent compounds with co-flowering rewarding species than those species share among each other
The vast majority of flowering plants depend on animal pollinators for sexual reproduction. These plants usually provide a reward, such as nectar and/or pollen, to their pollinators, and floral scent is often key to attract them. Some plants, however, do not provide any such reward, though they adve...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-08-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Plant Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2025.1627890/full |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849390643485343744 |
|---|---|
| author | Corinna Etl Florian Etl Robin Guilhot Herbert Braunschmid Karin Gross Stefan Dötterl |
| author_facet | Corinna Etl Florian Etl Robin Guilhot Herbert Braunschmid Karin Gross Stefan Dötterl |
| author_sort | Corinna Etl |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The vast majority of flowering plants depend on animal pollinators for sexual reproduction. These plants usually provide a reward, such as nectar and/or pollen, to their pollinators, and floral scent is often key to attract them. Some plants, however, do not provide any such reward, though they advertise one. Even though it is well known that such a food-deceptive pollination strategy is particularly common in orchids, the role of floral scent in attracting pollinators in such systems is often poorly understood. In this study, we compared the floral scent of the Eurasian deceptive lady’s slipper orchid Cypripedium calceolus with six co-flowering rewarding species visited by the same pollinators. Cypripedium calceolus produced more floral scent compounds than the co-flowering rewarding species together and differed in the floral scent composition from them. However, C. calceolus shared at least one compound with each co-flowering rewarding species, including widespread and less widespread compounds among flower scents, and had more compounds in common with the co-flowering rewarding species than they had with each other. Several compounds of C. calceolus, such as the aliphatic compounds 1-octanol, octyl acetate, and decyl acetate, did not occur in co-flowering plants but are known as pheromones of pollinating bees. Together, our results suggest that C. calceolus not only emits compounds that are generally common among flowering plants and attractive to many pollinators but specifically imitates floral scent compounds of multiple co-flowering plant species/pheromones of bees. These findings provide valuable insights into the ecology and evolution of floral scent in deceptive pollination systems in orchids. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-db93b4c587ff4920b7466ceeb598a650 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1664-462X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Plant Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-db93b4c587ff4920b7466ceeb598a6502025-08-20T03:41:26ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Plant Science1664-462X2025-08-011610.3389/fpls.2025.16278901627890Deceptive Cypripedium calceolus shares more floral scent compounds with co-flowering rewarding species than those species share among each otherCorinna Etl0Florian Etl1Robin Guilhot2Herbert Braunschmid3Karin Gross4Stefan Dötterl5Department of Environment and Biodiversity, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Salzburg, AustriaDepartment of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaCHITINE – Etudes Entomologiques, Caluire-et-Cuire, FranceDepartment of Environment and Biodiversity, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Salzburg, AustriaDepartment of Environment and Biodiversity, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Salzburg, AustriaDepartment of Environment and Biodiversity, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Salzburg, AustriaThe vast majority of flowering plants depend on animal pollinators for sexual reproduction. These plants usually provide a reward, such as nectar and/or pollen, to their pollinators, and floral scent is often key to attract them. Some plants, however, do not provide any such reward, though they advertise one. Even though it is well known that such a food-deceptive pollination strategy is particularly common in orchids, the role of floral scent in attracting pollinators in such systems is often poorly understood. In this study, we compared the floral scent of the Eurasian deceptive lady’s slipper orchid Cypripedium calceolus with six co-flowering rewarding species visited by the same pollinators. Cypripedium calceolus produced more floral scent compounds than the co-flowering rewarding species together and differed in the floral scent composition from them. However, C. calceolus shared at least one compound with each co-flowering rewarding species, including widespread and less widespread compounds among flower scents, and had more compounds in common with the co-flowering rewarding species than they had with each other. Several compounds of C. calceolus, such as the aliphatic compounds 1-octanol, octyl acetate, and decyl acetate, did not occur in co-flowering plants but are known as pheromones of pollinating bees. Together, our results suggest that C. calceolus not only emits compounds that are generally common among flowering plants and attractive to many pollinators but specifically imitates floral scent compounds of multiple co-flowering plant species/pheromones of bees. These findings provide valuable insights into the ecology and evolution of floral scent in deceptive pollination systems in orchids.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2025.1627890/fullvolatile organic compoundsdeceptive pollinationco-flowering communitygeneralized food-deceptionmimicryorchid |
| spellingShingle | Corinna Etl Florian Etl Robin Guilhot Herbert Braunschmid Karin Gross Stefan Dötterl Deceptive Cypripedium calceolus shares more floral scent compounds with co-flowering rewarding species than those species share among each other Frontiers in Plant Science volatile organic compounds deceptive pollination co-flowering community generalized food-deception mimicry orchid |
| title | Deceptive Cypripedium calceolus shares more floral scent compounds with co-flowering rewarding species than those species share among each other |
| title_full | Deceptive Cypripedium calceolus shares more floral scent compounds with co-flowering rewarding species than those species share among each other |
| title_fullStr | Deceptive Cypripedium calceolus shares more floral scent compounds with co-flowering rewarding species than those species share among each other |
| title_full_unstemmed | Deceptive Cypripedium calceolus shares more floral scent compounds with co-flowering rewarding species than those species share among each other |
| title_short | Deceptive Cypripedium calceolus shares more floral scent compounds with co-flowering rewarding species than those species share among each other |
| title_sort | deceptive cypripedium calceolus shares more floral scent compounds with co flowering rewarding species than those species share among each other |
| topic | volatile organic compounds deceptive pollination co-flowering community generalized food-deception mimicry orchid |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2025.1627890/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT corinnaetl deceptivecypripediumcalceolussharesmorefloralscentcompoundswithcofloweringrewardingspeciesthanthosespeciesshareamongeachother AT florianetl deceptivecypripediumcalceolussharesmorefloralscentcompoundswithcofloweringrewardingspeciesthanthosespeciesshareamongeachother AT robinguilhot deceptivecypripediumcalceolussharesmorefloralscentcompoundswithcofloweringrewardingspeciesthanthosespeciesshareamongeachother AT herbertbraunschmid deceptivecypripediumcalceolussharesmorefloralscentcompoundswithcofloweringrewardingspeciesthanthosespeciesshareamongeachother AT karingross deceptivecypripediumcalceolussharesmorefloralscentcompoundswithcofloweringrewardingspeciesthanthosespeciesshareamongeachother AT stefandotterl deceptivecypripediumcalceolussharesmorefloralscentcompoundswithcofloweringrewardingspeciesthanthosespeciesshareamongeachother |