The reproductive biology of motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca L.) |JBES

Leonurus cardiaca (Lamiaceae) is an important medicinal plant, growing wildly in many parts of Iran. It has been used to cure cardiovascular diseases, stress, anxiety, and nervous irritability. There has been no report on the breeding system of this species. This experiment was accordingly conducted to investigate the flower biology, pollination system, pollinators, and breeding system. The results show protandry is the dominant form, and the stigma reaches its most receptivity 48 hours after anthesis, while the highest in-vitro pollen germination is observed within two hours after anthesis. The examination of different types of pollination in this plant indicates that the highest seed set percentage, seed weight, and seed viability can be obtained by open pollination, but the existence of pollinators improves the reproduction significantly. Based on our results, L. cardiaca, with 27.48 ± 1.45% autogamy, is a self-compatible plant, whose reproduction is improved by cross-pollination. Honey bees (Apis melleifera) were the most important and common pollinators.

Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences-JBES is an open-access scholarly research journal, published by International Network for Natural Sciences-INNSPUB. JBES published original scientific articles in different field of Environmental Sciences and Biodiversity. JBES published 2 Volume and 12 issue per calender year