ABSTRACT
The knowledge of the reproductive system is essential for the conservation and management of the species. This study aimed on several procedures, as follows: to describe the phenology of flowering, the anthesis; to record the visiting insects during flowering and to determine the morphometric characteristics of the flowers and the reproductive system of the "erva-baleeira", in an environment of Northern Cerrado in the State of Minas Gerais. From May to December 2012, the flowering phenology of six access was characterized. In the analyzes of floral phenology it were determined the growth of the inflorescence and the number of flowers and fruits per inflorescence by using six access which had ten inflorescences marked in each access l, totalizing sixty inflorescences. The anthensis was assessed using four inflorescences in two plants. The flower`s visitors were observed live and captured in three consecutive days of sampling. The morphometric characteristics were determined with a caliper using 20 flowers, with five flowers from four access. In order to determine the reproductive system it was employed a ratiopollen: ovule (P: O) with 50 flowers and 10 of them belonging to five accesses in the pre-anthesis. Under the conditions of Montes Claros, the growth of inflorescences from Cordia occurred between mid-August and early October, totalizing 45 days. The flowering was observed between mid-September and late October, and the fruiting occurred from mid-October to early December. Both phases happened irregularly. The anthesis of the Cordia, in this study, occurred between 7:00 and 11:00 o`clock.. The visiting insects identified were from the orders of Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Diptera and Hymenoptera. The flowers exhibited a diameter of 2.13 ± 0.05 (mm), length of 3.29 ± 0.08 (mm), diameter of 0.70 ± 0.02 Ovarian (mm), the length of the ovary was 2.48 ± 0.12 (mm), the diameter of the anther 0.67 ± 0.01 (mm) and the length anther was 0.93 ± 0.02 (mm), with five anthers and four ovules per flower. The reason P: O was 576.542, indicating that the species is facultative allogamous.
Keywords
Medicinal plants; alogamy; Boraginaceae; reprodutive biology; phenology
