The floral phenology and mating system of Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertn. were studied on Barro Colorado Island, central Panama. Approximately one-half of the adult trees censused flowered in December 1989, although few trees produced fruit or viable seed, apparently due to insect damage. An allozyme analysis of the mating system shows this bat-pollinated species to have a mixture of selfing and outcrossing, with a population outcrossing estimate of 0.689. Estimates for individual trees ranged from complete selfing to complete outcrossing. There was no evidence for apomixis. Outcrossing among the individuals sampled was not random, possibly due to asynchrony in flowering times, mate choice, and nonrandom foraging behavior of the bat pollinators.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Murawski et al. (1992) studied this question.