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The functional ecology of gynodioecy in Eritrichum aretioides (Boraginaceae), the Alpine Forget‐Me‐Not
Author(s) -
Puterbaugh Mary N.,
Wied Anna,
Galen Candace
Publication year - 1997
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 - 10.2307/2446012
Subject(s) - gynodioecy , biology , outcrossing , selfing , hermaphrodite , pollen , pollinator , pollination , sex allocation , germination , boraginaceae , open pollination , dioecy , botany , ecology , offspring , population , pregnancy , demography , genetics , sociology
Eritrichum aretioides is a gynodioecious species with female and hermaphrodite individuals. In populations on Pennsylvania Mountain in central Colorado (USA), the frequency of females ranges from 22 to 41%. Flower number and the number of seeds produced per flower were similar in hermaphrodites and females. However, hermaphrodites produced larger flowers, while females produced larger seeds ( P < 0.05 for both). In the field, seed germination was higher for seeds from females than for seeds from hermaphrodites (20 vs. 9% germination; P < 0.05). Unvisited flowers and open‐pollinated flowers of hermaphrodites had similar pollen receipt (° 20 pollen grains per stigma), but seed set following autogamous pollination was significantly lower than seed set following natural pollination. This finding indicates that hermaphrodites have a barrier to selfing and implies that the larger seed size and greater establishment advantage of offspring from females is unlikely to have resulted from female outcrossing advantage. Rather, differences in the quality of seed progeny between morphs probably reflect a trade‐off in sexual allocation or pleiotropic effects of the sex‐determining genes.