Abstract:
The present paper reveals the floral biology, breeding system and pollination of Oxystelma esculentum (L.f.) Sm. which is a
medicinally important plant distributed throughout the India. The flowering period of plants ranged from July to January and
the beautiful, pale pink, nectariferous flowers start to open from 05:30 h and continued up to 06:30 h. Asingle flower produced
485±23.0 pollen grains in average. Different insects represented by Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera and Thysanoptera were found
to visit the flowers for nectar. Apis dorsata were found as the most dominant and effective one among the flower visitors. The
fruit set in natural open conditions was 8.8 %, however no fruit set was observed in netting and bagging condition. In case
of hand pollination 12 % fruit set were observed through xenogamy which is better than fruit formation through geitonogamy
(4 %) and autogamy (0).Results from the breeding experiment suggested that, the plants exhibits xenogamous breeding system.
