Diurnal patterns of floral volatile emissions in three species of Narcissus.
Florian LoschMaximilian WeigendPublished in: American journal of botany (2024)
Scent composition, circadian emission patterns, and floral morphology indicate divergent, but partially overlapping pollinator communities. However, the limited pollinator data from the field only permits a tentative correlation between emission patterns and flower visitors. Narcissus papyraceus and N. cantabricus show no clear diurnal patterns and thus no adjustment to the activity patterns of their diurnal pollinators. In N. viridiflorus, timing of scent emission indicates an adaptation to nocturnal flower visitors, contradicting Macroglossum as the only reported pollinator. We propose that the legitimate pollinators of N. viridiflorus are nocturnal and are still unidentified.