Nectar sugar composition in the subfamily Alooideae (Asphodelaceae)

HPLC analyses of nectar samples from 82 species of the genera Aloe, Astroloba, Chortolirion, Gasteria, Haworthia, Kniphofia, Lomatophyllum and Poellnitzia have shown that the sugar composition of nectar is remarkably invariable within each of the genera. In the Alooideae, distinct suprageneric group...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biochemical systematics and ecology 1993-03, Vol.21 (2), p.249-253
Main Authors: Van Wyk, B.E, Whitehead, C.S, Glen, H.F, Hardy, D.S, Van Jaarsveld, E.J, Smith, G.F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aloe
astroloba
Biological and medical sciences
chemotaxonomy
chortolirion
composition
fructose
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gasteria
glucose
Haworthia
nectar
Plant cytology, morphology, systematics, chorology and evolution
poellnitzia
Spermatophyta
sucrose
Systematics (diagnosis, chromosome numbers)
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:HPLC analyses of nectar samples from 82 species of the genera Aloe, Astroloba, Chortolirion, Gasteria, Haworthia, Kniphofia, Lomatophyllum and Poellnitzia have shown that the sugar composition of nectar is remarkably invariable within each of the genera. In the Alooideae, distinct suprageneric groups can be distinguished, based only on the relative proportions of sucrose, glucose and fructose. Three nectar types are present in the subfamily: (1) an alooid type (in Aloe, Kniphofia, Lomatophyllum and Poellnitzia) with less than 5% sucrose and equal proportions of glucose and fructose; (2) a gasterioid type (in Gasteria only) with sucrose dominant and equal proportions of glucose and fructose; (3) a haworthioid type (in Astroloba, Chortolirion and Haworthia) with sucrose dominant but with much more glucose than fructose.
ISSN:0305-1978
1873-2925
DOI:10.1016/0305-1978(93)90042-P