Pollination and the evolution of floral traits : selected studies in the Cape flora

Bibliography: pages 132-149.The study of plant pollination mechanisms has produced some of the most convincing examples of natural selection and adaptation. The aims of this thesis were to determine the role of pollinators in the evolution of floral traits in selected Cape plants, and to reach a better understanding of the relationship between floral adaptation and speciation. To establish a set of testable hypotheses, I asked specifically how adaptation to pollinators can explain three striking patterns in the Cape flora, namely (1) convergence in floral form between unrelated lineages (2) floral mimicry and (3) adaptive radiation within genera