Research at the Koishikawa Botanical Garden affiliated with the University of Tokyo has revealed that the world's smallest orchid, "Yorakuran," whose scientific name is named after Japan's leading plant taxonomist Dr. Tomitaro Makino, is pollinated by a flower fly with a body length of about 1 mm. Ta.
The pollination process for nearly 90% of orchids is not yet understood, and botanical gardens believe that this will also lead to the reproduction of valuable orchids.
It is said to be the world's smallest orchid, with flowers measuring less than 1 mm, and is distributed south of Miyagi Prefecture in Japan.
Dr. Makino defined the final classification, and the scientific name is Oberonia japonica (Maxim.) Makino. .
Pollination of plants is sometimes carried out by natural factors such as the wind, or by insects, but nothing was known about the specifics of the pollination of the yorakuran.
Last May, Yuta Sunagawa, a graduate student at the University of Tokyo who continues his research at the Koishikawa Botanical Garden, where Dr. Makino also belonged for many years, observed the flowering lily pads blooming in a plum orchard in Aichi Prefecture for more than 26 hours in a row. This is the first confirmation that the ball fly, which is about 1 mm long, is involved in pollination by depositing pollen clumps on its body.
There are 28,000 orchid species distributed throughout the world, but it is unknown how pollination takes place for nearly 90% of them, and this finding may lead to elucidation of how other orchids are pollinated. about it.
The results of this research were published as a paper in an American academic journal published on the 30th.
Professor Atsushi Kawakita, director of Koishikawa Botanical Garden and graduate school at the University of Tokyo, said, ``This means that the smallest pollen-carrying insect was involved in the world's smallest orchid. This is of great significance because it will help us understand what kind of environment we need to protect."