The potential of an alien plant to spread rapidly and colonize new habitat may be related to the mode of reproduction and the ability to attract pollinators. Most studies focus on widespread invasive plants, in which pollinators are rarely limiting. Here, we assess the ability of a recent invader in South Africa, the tristylous Lythrum salicaria to self-reproduce and whether this can explain the delay between introduction and spread. This study was conducted in one of the largest known populations (a total of 7 populations in South Africa) of L. salicaria in the Liesbeek river in the fynbos biome. We assessed the importance of pollinators and autonomous selfing in L. salicaria by comparing seed set between pollinator excluded and naturally pollinated flowers. Overall, 5 pollinators (4 native and 1 alien) were recorded with Cape honeybees and Africa Monarch butterflies the most prominent. Seed and fruit set were significantly higher in open pollinated flowers compared to pollinator excluded flowers. Also, seed and fruit set in pollinator excluded flowers were higher in long and medium morphs compared to short morphs. Germination was high for seeds from pollinator, but also from pollinator excluded treatments. This shows that L. salicaria in South Africa is self-compatible to some extent, but it is frequented by pollinators, significantly increasing seed production. Despite L. salicaria being tristylous, all 3 morphs are present in South Africa and with a huge seed production, this species has the potential to become a major invader of rivers and wetlands in South Africa.

外来植物迅速传播并在新的栖息地定居的潜力可能与繁殖方式和吸引传粉媒介的能力有关。大多数研究集中在授粉媒介很少受限制的广泛入侵的植物上。在这里，我们评估了南非最近的入侵者，有毛的千屈菜的自发繁殖能力，以及这是否可以解释引入和传播之间的延迟。这项研究是在Fynbos生物群系中，在Liesbeek河中最大的已知的L. salicaria种群之一（南非共有7个种群）中进行的。我们评估了授粉和自发自发在水杨酸杆菌中的重要性通过比较排除传粉媒介的花和自然授粉花的种子集。总体上，记录到有5个传粉媒介（4个本地传粉者和1个外来传粉者），其中以开普蜜蜂和非洲帝王蝶最为突出。与未授粉授粉的花相比，开放授粉花的种子和坐果率显着更高。而且，授粉媒介排除花中的种子和果实结实的长和中等形态比短形态更高。传粉者的种子发芽率很高，但不包括传粉者的种子发芽率也很高。这表明南非的唾液乳杆菌在某种程度上是自相容的，但是授粉媒介经常将其繁殖，从而大大提高了种子产量。尽管有沙门氏菌 由于属于三生，所有这三种变体都存在于南非并且具有巨大的种子产量，该物种有可能成为南非河流和湿地的主要入侵者。