CORRELATIONS BETWEEN ANTHOCYANIN TYPE, POLLINATOR AND FLOWER COLOR IN THE LABIATAE

Forty-nine species or cultivars of the Labiatae were surveyed for their floral anthocyanins. There was a good correlation between flower colour, anthocyanidin type and pollination vector. All six species with long tubular scarlet flowers contained pelargonidin; four also contained some cyanidin. All 17 red-purple and purple flowered species had cyanidin, and five had additionally peonidin. Twenty-one of 26 species with purple-violet, violet or blue flowers had delphinidin, and eight had malvidin; 13 of these species also had some cyanidin. Aromatic acylation with p-coumaryl substitution was more common (in 80%) than such acylation with caffeyl substitution (in 12% of species). Anthocyanins with aromatic acylation commonly occurred as mixtures of cis and trans isomers. Monomalonylated pigments were present in all but one of the plants, while dimalonylated pigments were identified in about half the samples. The four most common pigments in the family are thus cyanidin and delphinidin 3-(6''-p-coumarylglucoside)-5-(6'''-malonylglucoside), present as the cis and trans isomers. Four new pigments were characterized: two monomalonyl esters of peonidin 3,5-diglucoside, and the dimalonyl esters of delphinidin and malvidin 3-(6''-p-coumarylglucoside)-5-glucoside.