Mimicry in plants

In evolutionary biology, mimicry in plants are several forms of mimicry, such as Bakerian mimicry, Dodsonian mimicry and Vavilovian mimicry, of other organisms by plants, most commonly flowers. In Pouyannian mimicry, a flower, such as some species of orchid, mimics a female insect, luring males in search of a mate to pick up or deposit pollen.

Bakerian mimicry, named after English naturalist Herbert G. Baker, is a form of automimicry or intraspecific mimicry that occurs within a single species. In plants, the female flowers mimic male flowers of their own species, cheating pollinators out of a reward. This reproductive mimicry may not be readily apparent as members of the same species may still exhibit some degree of sexual dimorphism, i.e. the phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. It is common in many species of Caricaceae, a family of flowering plants in the order Brassicales, found primarily in tropical regions of Central and South America, and Africa.

Dodsonian mimicry, named after American botanist, orchidologist, and taxonomist, Calaway H. Dodson, is a form of reproductive floral mimicry, but the model belongs to a different species than the mimic. By providing similar sensory signals as the model flower, it can lure its pollinators. Like Bakerian mimics, no nectar is provided. Epidendrum ibaguense, a species of epiphytic orchid of the genus Epidendrum that occurs in Trinidad, French Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, and northern Brazil, resembles flowers of Lantana camara and Asclepias curassavica (commonly called Mexican butterfly weed, blood-flower, scarlet milkweed, or tropical milkweed), both are species of flowering plant with the first in the verbena family, while the latter belongs to the milkweed family, and both are native to the American tropics. Epidendrum ibaguense is pollinated by monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) and perhaps hummingbirds. Similar cases are seen in some other species of the same family. The mimetic species may still have pollinators of its own though, for example a Lamellicorn beetle, which usually pollinates correspondingly colored Cistus flowers, is also known to aid in pollination of Ophrys species that are normally pollinated by bees.

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