Pollination and quality of seeds and plantlets of Eugenia uniflora L.

ABSTRACT This work evaluated the effect of pollination on the quality of seeds and plantlets of Eugenia uniflora L., as well as on the regenerative capacity of the seeds. Twelve individuals were monitored for their phenology and their floral visitors. Recently-opened flowers were subjected to self-pollination (SP), cross-pollination (CP) and natural pollination/control (C) treatments. The seeds obtained were evaluated for their germination and the resulting seedlings were transferred to a greenhouse and evaluated for their height, stem diameter, number of leaves, leaf area and fresh and dry mass of root, stem, and leaves. SP, CP and C seeds were fractionated into two and four parts and evaluated for their ability to germinate and produce normal seedlings. Seeds and seedlings from manual cross-pollination were the most vigorous. The worst performance of the natural pollination (C) evidenced the pollen limitation caused by the scarcity of efficient pollinators in the study area.