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NONFRUITING HERMAPHRODITIC FLOWERS OF CALOCHORTUS LEICHTLINII (LILIACEAE): POTENTIAL REPRODUCTIVE FUNCTIONS
Author(s) -
Holtsford Timothy P.
Publication year - 1985
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.1537-2197.1985.tb08439.x
Subject(s) - biology , liliaceae , pollen , pollination , outcrossing , botany , hand pollination , pollinator
The breeding system, flowering display, and fruiting pattern of Calochortus leichtlinii Hook. (Liliaceae) was studied in the eastern Sierra Nevada. This species is capable of both autogamy and insect‐mediated outcrossing. Either of these two means of pollination alone could affect full seed set; the populations studied were not pollination limited in 1983. Most individuals produced two flowers but set only one fruit. Flowers are not selectively matured on the basis of the quantity or purported quality of the pollen they receive; the first flower to open was matured in all experiments. Nonfruiting flowers have at least three potentially important reproductive functions: disseminating pollen, allowing plants to produce more seeds in response to an abundance of soil moisture, and setting seeds if the first flower fails to develop fruit.