Floral Phenology of Jaltomata repandidentata

P = flower is pistillate (anthers remain undehisced)
P & CC = pistillate & corolla closed in the afternoon after a day of being open. I could see that the flower was still pistillate because I could look into the flower and see undehisced anthers.
H = hermaphroditic (anthers have dehisced)
H minus x = hermaphroditic but with x number of anthers soon to open (still closed)
HNSP = has not self-pollinated. There is no pollen on the stigma, stigma observed with a 14X hand lens.
SP = self-pollinated in a windless pollinator-free environment. There is pollen on the stigma, pollen seen with a 14X hand lens.
Corolla Abscission - the stamens are attached to the corolla, so of course when the corolla drops off (abscises) the stamens go with it. When gravity brings the abscised corolla-androecium unit down, this may be when self-pollination takes place.

Summary: Four of the five flowers lasted only two days, one day of protogyny followed by one day of hermaphroditism. Anthers do not dehisce simultaneously. The flower self-pollinates after being pistillate for (on four out of five flowers) at least one full day, but I don't know if my gentle handling of the flowers (to look at the stigma with a hand lens) contributed to self-pollination.

Footnotes:
A - stigma is at same height as the dehisced anthers of the longer stamens, but stigma is orienting to the side away from anthers because of the curvature of the style
B - stigma beyond distal end of anthers by one to two mm.
C - stigma is at the same height as the proximal end of the anthers of the longest stamens
D - flower looks exactly like the black & white one posted on-line on the Jaltomata repandidentata page, in terms of its positioning of appendages
E - I made these observations eight hours after the last observations simply because I forgot at 8:00 am to check the stigmas with the hand lens. Nothing visibly changes after corolla abscission.

Materials and Methods:
This mini-study was done by T.M. on accession 605 in the CCSU greenhouse October 2006. A 14X hand lens was used to check for the presence of pollen on stigmas. The greenhouse is heated, and so it felt warm in the greenhouse while I was checking the flowers (colder temperatures may result in flowers lasting longer).

Discussion:
These observations are in general agreement with those of Polsgrove et al. ( 1993).
In this mini-study flowers self-pollinated, but I don't know if my gentle handling of the flowers (to look at the stigma with a hand lens) caused this.
My other observations of the floral phenology of this species revealed some flowers that lasted three days: one day pistillate followed by two days of hermaphroditism (accessions 362 & 565, 3 flowers, data gathered in April of 1992 in the UConn greenhouse).
Davis (1986) reported on the floral phenology of Jaltomata procumbens, and found a similar situation: delayed self-pollination.

Questions:
When exactly does the pollen get on the stigma? Does pollen get on the stigma if the flower is not handled (and there is no wind knocking things around, and no pollinators)?

The information on this page may be cited as a communication with professor Thomas Mione, Central Connecticut State University, Biology Department, Copernicus Hall, 1615 Stanley Street, New Britain, CT 06050-4010. Link to Jaltomata home page