The pollination ecology of Persoonia 
(Proteaceae) in eastern Australia 
Peter Bernhardt and Peter H. Weston 
775 
Abstract 
Bernhardt, Peter & YJcston, Peter H. (Dept, of Biology, St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. 
63103; National Herbarium of Neiv South Wales, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, NSW, Australia 2000) 
1996. The pollination ecology of Persoonia (Proteaceae) in eastern Australia. Telopea 6(4): 775-804. 
Twenty Persoonia spp. and two interspecific hybrids (P. acerosa x P, levis, P. microphylla x P. mollis) 
native to eastern Australia were examined. Although these radially symmetrical flowers appear to 
have a tubular perianth each tepai is hinged at its base and opens outwardly when depressed by 
an insect at least 6 mm long. These species show an aestival-autumnal flowering peak and four, 
differing, floral scents were recognised. Persoonia pinifolia and P. subvelulina produce nectar that is 
sucrose dominant. Twenty two insect taxa were collected on the flowers but field observations 
and the analyses of pollen loads carried by insects suggested that Persoonia is pollinated primarily 
by bees. Specifically, the most consistent pollen vectors were native Leioproctus species (Colletidae; 
subgenus Cladocerapis) and Exoneura species (Anthophoridae). Pollen load analyses showed that 
both Exoneura and Leioproctus spp. also foraged on the flowers of Myrtaceae and other co-blooming 
taxa. The deposition of Persoonia pollen on these bees was both dorsal and ventral as their contact 
with anthers was both active and passive. Female bees in subgenus Cladocerapis usually carried 
heavier loads of pollen than males, which appeared to forage for nectar exclusively. 
Leioproctus (Cladocerapis) spp. observed on P. glaucescens, P. lanceolata and P. mollis showed 
stereotyped modes of pollen collection confirming observations first made by Rodd as cited by 
Payment (1950). At two sites, 28% of the bees collected carried the pollen of more than one 
Persoonia species. The high frequency of first generation hybrids between Persoonia species is 
explained, in part, by a combination of overlapping distributions, flowering periods and pollinators. 
Introduction 
Most of the literature on the pollination ecology of Australasian Proteaceae has been 
produced within the last twenty years. Consequently, when the monumental review 
of the family by Johnson and Briggs (1975) is re-read today, the section entitled 
'Inflorescences and Pollination', seems rather speculative. 
Johnson and Briggs' records of vertebrate pollinators came primarily from anecdotal 
references or from the colour photos of wildlife photographers. Papers referring to 
the foraging of Australian bees on the flowers of the Proteaceae were still scattered 
through the entomological literature and would not be compiled and cross-referenced 
until Armstrong (1979). 
Today, the study of the floral biology of Australasian Proteaceae has become important 
to the science of pollination ecology for two reasons. First, many taxa are such dependable 
and copious producers of nectar that it is relatively easy to quantify the calorific content 
of individual flowers and/or whole inflorescences (Paton 1985). Since much of the 
nectar produced by these taxa is consumed by passerine birds and loriid parrots, 
bird/flower interactions provide one of the most visible model systems to test theories 
of optimal foraging theory and resource allocation (Pyke & Waser 1981; Pyke 1982). 
The movement of vertebrates through the habitat is relatively easier to see and track 
compared to most insects. No wonder recent, comparative studies of pollination 
