Joseph E. Armstrong

Nutmegs

Best known for the spices nutmeg and mace from the seed and aril of Myristica fragrans, the nutmegs are an ancient and enigmatic family of rain forest trees. Although used as the spice mace, the aril, displayed from within the fruit, is both the attractant and reward for avian seed dispersers.

Species of Myristica (and most nutmegs) are dioecious and my research has demonstrated that the flowering pattern along with intersexual differences in reward (female flowers provide no reward) and floral longevity may promote foraging errors, a most sophisticated example of pollination by deceit. This was the first documentation of sensitivity to display in beetles and that beetle foraging could exert selection on olfactory display, a function of flower number. Future work is planned to study intersexual differences in display, pollen movement, and rate of pollination in Neotropical nutmegs.