Intraspecific Constancy of Floral Nectar Amino Acid Complements

Amino acid complements of nectars from a wide range of angiosperms were examined for intraspecific variation, using a dansylation technique and "miniaturized" polyamide thin-layer chromatography In the face of outcrossing mechanisms, environmental variation, and even fungal attack, there is impressive constancy of the complements on a "presence or absence" basis and considerable uniformity in the relative proportions of the amino acids represented The adaptive significance of this constancy is considered, and its favorable implications for the further utilization of the complements in taxonomic and phylogenetic studies are discussed