The orchid family is renowned for its enormous diversity of pollination mechanisms and
unusually high occurrence of non-rewarding flowers compared to other plant families. The …

The Orchidaceae are one of the most species-rich plant families and their floral diversity and
pollination biology have long intrigued evolutionary biologists. About one-third of the …

Abstract “Big” plant genera, those of 500 or more species, have not only occasioned interest
among systematic botanists, but for geographical, ecological or horticultural reasons, have …

Mimicry is a classic example of adaptation through natural selection. The traditional focus of
mimicry research has been on defence in animals, but there is now also a highly-developed …

A standing enigma in pollination ecology is the evolution of pollinator attraction without
offering reward in about one third of all orchid species. Here I review concepts of pollination …

Disentangling phylogenetic relationships proves challenging for groups that have evolved
recently, especially if there is ongoing reticulation. Although they are in most cases …

A gynostemium, comprising stamen filaments adnate to a syncarpous style, occurs in only
three groups of monocots: the large family Orchidaceae (Asparagales) and two small genera …

Episodes of rapid speciation provide unique insights into evolutionary processes underlying
species radiations and patterns of biodiversity. Here we investigated the radiation of …

The evolution of reproductive isolation is of central interest in evolutionary biology. In plants,
this is typically achieved by a combination of pre-and postpollination mechanisms that …

Abstract Background and Aims Genome size is a function, and the product, of cell volume.
As such it is contingent on ecological circumstance. The nature of 'this ecological …