BCSS - Forum

A male flower No such problems here

A few of my Lobivia pentlandii have quite the opposite problem - pollenless anthers.

Are Lobivias known for this? It is well-documented in the Echinocereus coccineus complex.

I don't think any feature of Lobivia could be described as well documented. I've only observed it in L. pentlandii and L. pugionacantha. Over the weekend, I've had around 8 pentlandii in flower with 4 producing pollen but 4 not. My casual observation of one plant that has flowered for many years is that it never produces pollen so I'm assuming that it's genetic rather than environmental. This pair of seedlings from the same packet of seed growing in the same pot further indicate this since one has pollen yet the other doesn't.

Phil_SK wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2019 8:01 pm A few of my Lobivia pentlandii have quite the opposite problem - pollenless anthers.

Sterile anthers, not so commonly seen on happy 'true' species, but often encountered in hybrids, especially more distant and remote relatives for example Trichocereus/Echinopsis/Hildewintera hybrids.
I have also observed it in Echeveria hybrids and Aloe hybrids and their respective intergeneric crosses.
In my experience this lack of fertility in individuals is permanent.

Other occasions I have observed anthers lacking pollen is when Hoverflies have been active in my greenhouse, but they tend to prefer mopping up Mesembs pollen, sometimes leaving nothing to pollinate my plants with. However, it is easy to tell the difference between a raided anther and a completely sterile anther.

I am curious to know if the sterile anther plants you have observed/shown are able to set seed freely or if fertility is reduced or lacking in the female role of the flower too.

The first one look like Echinocereus to me.
You can check it's ovary.
Echinocereus has spiny ovary and Lobivia has hairy wooly ovary.

Echinocereus has plenty of dioecious speciese.
It's not too strange to see a Echinocereus has only male or female part.
Mostly Echinocereus coccineus related species.

Different locality and field number has different gender system.
It's biologically very interesting.