Is the flower fluorescence relevant in bio-communication?

IRIEL, ANALÍA AND LAGORIO, MARÍA GABRIELA

NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN

SPRINGER

Año: 2010 p. 915 - 924

0028-1042

Flower fluorescence has been previously proposed as a potential visual signal to attract pollinators. In this work, this point was addressed by quantitatively measuring the fluorescence quantum yield (Ff) for flowers of Bellis perennis (white, yellow, pink and purple), Ornithogalum thyrsoides (petals and ovaries), Limonium sinuatum (white and yellow), Lampranthus productus (yellow), Petunia nyctaginiflora (white), Bougainvillea spectabilis (white and yellow), Antirrhinum majus (white and yellow), Eustoma grandiflorum (white and blue), Citrus aurantium (petals and stigma), and Portulaca grandiflora (yellow). The highest values were obtained for ovaries of Ornithogalum thyrsoides (Ff = 0.030) and for Citrus aurantium petals (Ff = 0.014) and stigma (Ff = 0.013). Emitted photons as fluorescence were compared with reflected photons. It was concluded that the fluorescence emission is negligible compared to the reflected light, even for the most fluorescent samples, and it may not be considered as an optical signal in bio-communication. The work was complemented with the calculation of quantum catches for each studied flower species to describe the visual sensitization of eye-photoreceptors.