Abstract

The present work aimed to study the floral morphology and the reproductive biology of Gliricidia sepium (Family- Fabaceae) at Nasik city, Maharashtra, during the period from the year 2020 to 2024. The flowers of G.sepium attract honey bees like Apis spp.; hence it is an important species for honey production. As a result of the colonizing nature of G. septum, it is under no threat at the species level, being found throughout the world especially meso-America and several other countries. Flowers of G.sepium found to be bisexual, five petalled with standard petal that is reflexed to 180° at the time of opening which is its characteristic feature. Low rates of fruiting were observed in natural conditions, which suggests that pollination might be failed, probably due to the significantly fewer visits by pollinating agents; establishing the G.sepium as a cross-pollination species. Though G.sepium has been reported as an insect pollinated species in earlier works; it has been observed that; the flowers have been visited by few insects only; which may be due to the papilionaceous corolla, arrangement of standard and keel petals which tend to protect the stigma and keep it enclosed; posing difficulty for insects in gaining access to the nectaries.