A study on the pollination of the sarsaparilla flower.

Abstract

In this study, we examined the pollination rate of Aralia nudicaulis, commonly known as the sarsaparilla flower. Sarsaparilla is an angiosperm without specialized pollinators. We observed the plants at three different times of the day: early morning, afternoon, and early evening. We selected sites under heavy forest canopy cover, and also under moderate canopy cover. We used hand counters to count the number of pollination events within 15 minute time frames, and recorded the stalk height of the reproductive shoot, the number of umbels, and the percent canopy cover. Our tests showed that there was no significant relationship between the average stalk height and the total pollination rate, nor between the number of umbels and the total pollination rate. There was a significant difference between the average pollination rates between the moderately covered site and the densely covered sight, supporting our hypothesis that pollination rates are higher in more open areas. We found that pollination rates in the morning were significantly lower than pollination rates in the afternoon and evening. However, afternoon pollination rates were not significantly different from evening rates, refuting our hypothesis.