- Source: Marcgravia evenia
Marcgravia evenia is a species of flowering vine in the family Marcgraviaceae. Within this family it belongs to the Galetae group, which is characterized by a long inflorescence axis and boat shaped nectaries. The plant is endemic to Cuba. The inflorescence of M. evenia is extraordinary. At the upper end of the pendant inflorescence are several concave bracts set at an angle to reflect and focus sonar pulses from bats, helping the bats to locate the flowers. In the middle of the inflorescence is a discoid circle (or single-whorled umbel) of about twenty tubular tetramerous flowers. Below these is a second set of bracts very different from the reflective ones These are modified into extrafloral nectaries which is why the bats are interested, and can be enlisted as pollinators. Inflorescences with two different kinds of bracts are quite rare. although the common poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcerima) is one such.
Bat ecology
Marcgravia evenia relies on Monophyllus, a Cuban nectar-feeding bat, for pollination.
This plant has evolved bowl shaped leaves which act as reflectors for a bat's biosonar. This helps the bats to find the plants with greater ease and hence pollinate them with more frequency. The shape of the leaves also helps to guide the bats in locating the hidden feeders. The reflectors are convergent with those of a Bornean pitcher plant, Nepenthes hemsleyana, that attracts bats to its pitchers as roosting sites and uses bat guano as a source of nutrition.
References
External links
Kaufman, Rachel (28 July 2011). "Bats Drawn to Plant via 'Echo Beacon'". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 5 August 2011.
"A leaf that's loud and proud". Nature. 476 (7358): 8. August 2011. doi:10.1038/476008a. S2CID 42179740.
O'Luanaigh, Cian (28 July 2011). "Cuban flowers rely on bat signal for survival". New Scientist.
Bhanoo, Sindya N. (29 July 2011). "A Vine's Acoustics Send a Bat Signal". The New York Times.
University of Bristol (28 July 2011). "Rainforest plant developed sonar dish to attract pollinating bats". phys.org.
