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HERMAPHRODITIC FLOWERING IN GAMBEL OAK
Author(s) -
Tucker J. M.,
Neilson R. P.,
Wullstein L. H.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1980.tb07759.x
Subject(s) - biology , acorn , fagaceae , plant reproductive morphology , botany , selfing , population , demography , sociology
Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii Nutt.) is normally monoecious, flowering once a year in spring. In Utah, August 1978, several individuals were observed producing hermaphroditic flowers in riparian habitats. This unusual event was preceded by a general freeze of male catkins in May which resulted in low acorn production. In 1979 the same individuals flowered normally, with no evidence of freeze damage or hermaphroditic flowers being observed. Acorns were produced on these individuals in both years. It is suggested that hermaphroditic flowering in the Fagaceae is an ancestral condition, still present in the genome, but normally suppressed, which may be evoked by unusual environmental conditions.