Abstract

Floral colour is a visual cue to pollinators and of great importance in shaping plant-pollinator interactions. Directional selection creates uniformity of floral colour, but rare cases of colour variation are important to study the evolution of floral colours. In the geophyte Fritillaria persica, both cream-greenish and purple floral colour morphs were described. We aim to test the hypothesis that existence of both colour morphs is maintained through differential pollinator spectrum and visitation rate, due to differences in colour perception and nectar properties (sugar and amino acids). We propose also increased autonomous self-pollination is response to seasonal mismatch between flowering and pollinator emergence, and/or to differences in the pollination efficiency, which is hypothesized to vary between colour morphs. Studying preferences of pollinators and chemical analysis of floral reward properties may help us to understand the role of this factors in distribution and frequency of flower colour polymorphism in F. persica.