''Tibouchina papyrus'' Toledo was described in 1952. ''Tibouchina papyrus'' is a narrow endemic to the ''campos rupestres'' and is mainly found in three localities in the states of Goiás and Tocantins in central Brazil, including the Serra da Natividade.
Abreu ''et al''. found that ''T. papyrus'' is a habitat-specialist on rocky outcrop ''cerrado'' which typically has shallow substrate and uneven topography, with
sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
soils and
quartzite
Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock that was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tecton ...
outcrops.
This species has been collected at elevations between 500 metres and 1,100 metres.
''T. papyrus'' is listed as
vulnerable by the IUCN.
''Tibouchina'' ''papyrus'' is locally known as “pau-papel”.
The flowers of ''T. papyrus'' are
buzz pollinated by large bees in the genera ''
Xylocopa
Carpenter bees are species in the genus ''Xylocopa'' of the subfamily Xylocopinae. The genus includes some 500 bees in 31 subgenera. The common name "carpenter bee" derives from their nesting behavior; nearly all species burrow into hard plant m ...
'', ''
Bombus
A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only Extant taxon, extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct r ...
'' and ''
Centris
The genus ''Centris'' contains circa 250 species of large apid bees occurring in the Neotropical and Nearctic realms, from Kansas to Argentina. Most females of these bees possess adaptations for carrying floral oils rather than (or in additi ...
'', and the seeds are wind dispersed (
autochory).
Flowers have higher fruit production when
cross-pollinated
Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example bees, beetles or butterflies; birds ...
although they are not
self-incompatible
Self-incompatibility (SI) is a general name for several genetic mechanisms that prevent self-fertilization in sexually reproducing organisms, and thus encourage outcrossing and allogamy. It is contrasted with separation of sexes among individuals ...
and can produce low numbers of fruit when self-pollinated.
One study of microsatellite loci showed low levels of polymorphism and low genetic diversity within populations,
while another study found that populations of ''T. papyrus'' are highly differentiated with little to no
gene flow
In population genetics, gene flow (also known as migration and allele flow) is the transfer of genetic variation, genetic material from one population to another. If the rate of gene flow is high enough, then two populations will have equivalent ...
between populations.
References
External links
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q10382389
papyrus
Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can a ...