Data from: Papilio butterfly vs. hawkmoth pollination explains floral syndrome dichotomy in a clade of Lilium

<p>This dataset contains data described in the paper recently accepted by Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society:" Liu C-Q, Niu Y, Lu Q-B, Chen Z, Cai B, Fang Y, Gao Y-D. (2021) <i><span>Papilio</span></i> butterfly vs. hawkmoth pollination explains floral syndrome dichotomy in a clade of <i><span>Lilium</span></i>".</p> <div>The <span>Leucolirion  </span>clade of <span>Lilium</span> contains species with either tepal-recurved or trumpet-shaped flowers. We hypothesized that the tepal-recurved flowers  might be pollinated by butterflies and/or birds while the trumpet-shaped flowers might permit visitation by a variety of hawkmoths. <span>Lilium leucanthum</span> has trumpet shaped flowers, and some populations of this species show dark coloration on the floral outer surface, suggesting pollination by mammals. We examined the dependence of reproduction on pollinators by pollen load analysis and pollination experiments. We also analysed floral traits to contrast the two floral syndromes involving different lepidopteran groups.</div> <div> </div> <div>The tepal-recurved lilies delivered pollen by <span>Papilio</span> butterflies with pollen predominantly attached to the hindwings. The trumpet-shaped flowers attracted diverse species with proboscises of different lengths. Self-incompatibility prevails throughout the clade. Exclusion of lepidopteran visitors resulted in very low seed set. The butterfly- and hawkmoth-pollinated species display contrasting floral syndromes. Thus, the dichotomy in floral syndrome, including nectar, color, and morphology in the <span>Leucolirion</span> clade is associated with <span>Papilio</span> butterfly vs. hawkmoth pollination. Intraspecific variation in colour of the floral outer surface of <span>L</span>. <span>leucanthum</span>  was also confirmed by our measurements.</div> <div> </div> <div>These data can be used in further research on the floral ecology and evolution of Lilium and may also be needed in reviews of flower-hawkmoth interactions and hawkmoth biology.</div>