Study
Nectaries and Nectar
Nicolson, Susan W.; Nepi, Massimo; Pacini, Ettore
Springer, 2007
A monograph on nectar secretion and composition: nectary structure and position, the sugars and minor constituents of nectar, secretion dynamics, and the relationship between composition and the animals that drink it.
- Studied in
- Angiospermae
- Sample size
- monographic synthesis
Nectar is a secreted aqueous solution dominated by sucrose, glucose and fructose, with amino acids, ions, proteins and secondary metabolites in small quantities. Sugar concentration ranges from roughly 8% to over 70% depending on the plant and the conditions, and correlates broadly with the feeding apparatus of the principal visitors. Nectaries occur on flowers and also outside them.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Nectar composition is under selection from both the plants that produce it and the animals that consume it, and cannot be understood as sugar water.
How NatureHQ reads it
The two facts that most change how people read a flower: nectar is expensive to make, which is why plants meter it out rather than filling the flower; and extrafloral nectar exists, which means "nectar attracts pollinators" is only part of what nectar does. Plants also use it to hire bodyguards.
- A synthesis; composition data are patchy across families and biased to studied crops.
- Concentration measurements are strongly affected by humidity at the moment of sampling.
- Secondary compounds in nectar are much less well characterised than sugars.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
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Published by: Academic book publishersPublished as an academic monograph.
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