Biologists from the University of Gdańsk, after almost 50 years of speculation, have documented the pollination process of the orchid Ornithidium fulgens by the hummingbird Amazilia cyanocephala. - 'In contrast to van der Pijl and Dodson's observations, thanks to the photographic documentation, I was able to determine the transfer of pollen and thus confirm that we are dealing with ornithogamy,' - said dr Monika Lipińska from the Faculty of Biology, University of Gdańsk. You can read about the discovery made during field research in Guatemala in the new publication of Scientific Reports of the Nature group.

Dr Monika Lipińska from the Laboratory of Plant Taxonomy of the Faculty of Biology UG has been conducting field research in Guatemala regularly since 2017. As she emphasises, the discovery described by Nature is the result of her and prof. dr hab. Dariusz Szlachetko's long-term cooperation with Fredy Archila from Estación Experimental de Orquídeas de la Familia Archila.

- 'Maxillariinae is one of the most species-rich subfamilies of the family Orchidaceae. Although many researchers have dealt with the taxonomy of this group of orchids, the pollination biology of its representatives is still little understood,' - says a biologist from UG. - 'Stingless bees (Meliponini) are considered the main pollinators of Maxillariinae, but for years scientists have suspected that some species may be pollinated by birds through ornithogamy. This information was replicated in the literature essentially only based on a single report by van der Pijl and Dodson in 1966.'

However, during field studies conducted at the Estación Experimental de Orquídeas de la Familia Archila in Cobán (Guatemala), scientists managed to document the pollination process of Ornithidium fulgens, one of the representatives of the Maxillariinae, by the hummingbird Amazilia cyanocephala.

- 'In contrast to van der Pijl and Dodson's observations, thanks to the photographic documentation, I was able to determine the transfer of pollen (a form of pollen characteristic for orchids), and thus confirm that we are dealing with ornithogamy,' - says dr Monika Lipińska. - 'This observation was the starting point for a more detailed analysis of how O. fulgens flowers adapted to pollination by birds.'

The research was carried out in cooperation with other scientists from the University of Gdańsk, including dr hab. Agnieszka Kowalkowska, prof. UG (Department of Plant Cytology and Embryology, Faculty of Biology, UG), who undertook analyses of micro- and ultrastructures, as well as histochemical tests, and dr hab. Łukasz Haliński (Department of Environmental Analysis, Faculty of Chemistry, UG), who performed the analysis of nectar composition.

The research was funded by a grant for young scientists from the Faculty of Biology, University of Gdańsk, and the European SYNTHESYS grant.