Reproductive ecology of crotalaria (Crotalaria spectabilis Roth, Fabaceae) in an agroecological cultivation area

• Autor(a) principal: Henrique, Maressa de Oliveira
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Outros Autores: Figueiredo, Rodolfo Antônio de
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista Verde de Agroecologia e Desenvolvimento Sustentavel
• Texto Completo: https://www.gvaa.com.br/revista/index.php/RVADS/article/view/5425
• topic: Sudeste brasileiro; Agroecologia; Mamangava.; Southeast Brazil; Agroecology; Bumblebee.

The study of green manures has shown a great potential in the recovery of soil productivity and among the several legumes used as green manure, stands out crotalaria. The objective of the present work is to describe floral morphology and reproductive phenology, as well as characterize the reproduction process, fruit predation and seed germination of Crotalaria spectabilis Roth (Fabaceae). The study was conducted in an agroecological cultivation area in Araras (SP). Ten individuals were tagged and monitored for phenological observations. Floral visitors were observed throughout the experiment period, noting the frequency, time and duration of their visits. The flowers are grouped in bunch-type racemes, present the typical formation of Papilionaceae family, with corolla of yellow color, being the average portion of the standard with brown lines, which acts like guide of nectar. The anthesis is diurnal, characterized by the distension and reflection of the standard, and the duration of the flowers is approximately five days. Regarding the breeding system, the species is selfcompatible, but has a preference for cross pollination, with Xylocopa sp. effective pollinator. For the germination test, seeds from the predated and non-predated fruits were used, obtaining the percentage of germination for C. spectabilis of 86.57% and 56.67%, respectively.