THE STUDY OF BLOOMING AND POLLEN EFFICIENCY OF Adonis vernalis L. IN XEROTHERMIC PLANT COMMUNITIES

The study was conducted in the years 2004 – 2005 using two populations of Adonis vernalis L. occurring in the Adonido-Brachypodietum pinnati community at Pliszczyn near Lublin and in the Brachypodio-Teucrietum community at Stawska Góra near Che3m. The blooming of A. vernalis in the Lublin region occurs from the first days of April to the end of May. The species is characterized by an early, daytime pattern of flower opening limited to 4 hours during the day. The habitat conditions significantly modified the traits that influenced pollen efficiency. Depending on the community and study year blooming abundance was from 97 to 325 flowers · 1m-2. At the Pliszczyn site the plants bloomed more abundantly than at Stawska Góra and were characterized by a greater number of stamens, higher mass of pollen delivered and higher pollen viability. The average mass of pollen supplied by 100 anthers of A. vernalis was from 2.04 mg do 3.18 mg and it correlated positively with the size of anthers. In thermophilous communities A. vernalis supplies on average 3 – 10 g · 10 m-2 of pollen. Due to the early blooming period it is a valuable amount so that the preservation of natural A.vernalis sites should be promoted and its cultivation should be encouraged in gardens thereby enriching pollen supply mainly for bees living in the wild.