Floral visitors and nectar secretion of the Japanese camellia, camellia japonica L.

Abstract

We studied the nectar secretion of the Japanese Camellia (Camellia japonica L.), an evergreen tree and observed its floral visitors during the day. The mean volume of nectar secreted, during daylight (08:31 to 16:30 h) was 30.26 ± 18.29 ml (SD) (n = 27). During the late afternoon and overnight (16:31 to 08:30 following day), 100.54 ± 54.85 ml (n = 27) of nectar was secreted. Total volume measured when flowers were sampled once every two hours for an eight‐hour period was approximately one‐half the volume which was measured when the flowers were sampled only once after eight hours. The mean nectar volume secreted was 8.55 ± 8.3 ml (n = 30) between 08:31 to 10:30, 4.38 ± 6.1 ml (n = 30) between 10:31 to 12:30, 4.6 ± 5.4 ml (n = 30) between 12:31 to 14:30, and 4.02 ± 3.5 ml (n = 30) between 14:31 to 16:30 hours. During the day, Japanese Camellia flowers were principally visited by the Japanese white‐eye (Zosterops erythropleura erythropleura S.), a native bird, although insects and squirrels also visited to a lesser degree.