Eugenia uniflora, E. punicifolia, E. neonitida and E. rotundifolia are perennial species, usually shrubs, occurring in the restinga of Grumari Natural Municipal Park west of Rio de Janeiro. They have racemose inflorescences with pedicellate flowers inserted in the leaf axils. The flowers are androgynous, polystemonous, of the Papaver type, and generalists. Pollen grains are the only floral resource (classified as pollen-flowers). The stigma is dry, minute and made up of delicate papillae. Anthesis is diurnal. The flowers last only one day and are visited by a wide range of insects, including Hymenoptera, Diptera, Coleoptera and Neuroptera, for a total of 29 species. Bees are the most common visitors, with Apis mellifera L., a species introduced by human activities, the most frequent and abundant. This bee is regarded as the true pollinator of the species studied here. Flowering is yearly and massive. E. uniflora blooms from August to October, and fruits from September to November. E. neonitida blooms from late August to early December, and fruits from October to the first week in January. E. punicifolia bloomed twice in 2003, first in June and July, with fruiting in August, and second, from September to October, fruiting in November and December. In 2004, it bloomed only in August with fruiting from October to December. E. rotundifolia bloomed in March, with fruiting from May to June.
Eugenia; Myrtaceae; restinga; floral biology; pollination
