Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Floral development: Lip formation in orchids unravelled

Nature Plants volume 1, Article number: 15056 (2015) Cite this article

Subjects

Most orchid flowers have an enlarged median petal, the ‘lip’, which plays a crucial role in attracting pollinators. The existence and appearance of this organ is due to the presence of specific protein complexes involved in floral development, which are differentially expressed in orchid species with more or less pronounced lips.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Flower of Ophrys splendida with Andrena male.

© JEAN CLAESSENS

References

  1. Hsu, H. F. et al. Nature Plants 1, 15046 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Ramírez, S. R. et al. Nature 448, 1042–1045 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Coen, E. S. & Meyerowitz, E. M. . Nature 353, 31–37 (1991)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Theissen, G. & Saedler, H. Nature 409, 469–471 (2001)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Darwin, C. On the Various Contrivances by which Orchids are Fertilised by Insects 2nd edn (Murray, 1877).

  6. Cozzoline, S. & Widmer, A. Trends Ecol. Evol. 20, 487–494 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Barbara Gravendeel and Anita Dirks-Mulder are at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center and the University of Applied Sciences Leiden, Sylviusweg 72 2333 BE, Leiden, The Netherlands.,

    Barbara Gravendeel & Anita Dirks-Mulder

Authors
  1. Barbara Gravendeel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Anita Dirks-Mulder
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Barbara Gravendeel.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gravendeel, B., Dirks-Mulder, A. Floral development: Lip formation in orchids unravelled. Nature Plants 1, 15056 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nplants.2015.56

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nplants.2015.56

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing