Nectaries and Nectar [electronic resource] / edited by Susan W. Nicolson, Massimo Nepi, Ettore Pacini.

A systematic survey of floral nectaries -- Nectary structure and ultrastructure -- Nectar production and presentation -- Nectar chemistry -- Molecular biology of the Nicotiana floral nectary -- Nectar consumers -- Ecological and evolutionary aspects of floral nectars in Mediterranean habitats.

Nectar is the most important reward offered by plants to pollinating animals. This book is a modern and interdisciplinary text on nectar and nectaries, prompted by the expansion of knowledge, especially in the more ecological and now molecular fields, and the strong recent interest in pollination biology. The topics covered vary widely: they include historical aspects, the structure and ultrastructure of nectaries and relationships to plant systematics, the dynamics of nectar secretion, nectar chemistry and the molecular biology of defence proteins, adaptations to insect and vertebrate nectar consumers and consequences for pollination ecology, and broad-scale studies of nectar resources at the community level.