Both small and large plants are likely to produce staminate (male) flowers in a hermaphrodite lily

Plant Diversity
EiEi ShweShuang-Quan Huang

Abstract

Resource allocation to female and male function may vary among individual plants in species with variable sex expression. Size-dependent sex allocation has been proposed in hermaphrodites, in which female-biased allocation may increase with plant size. In many hermaphrodites with large floral displays, however, later-produced flowers tend to be functionally male. This paradoxical relationship between female and male function and plant size remains poorly understood. The subalpine lily Lilium lankongense has individuals of three sexual types: males with only staminate flowers, hermaphrodites with only perfect flowers, and andromonoecious plants with both perfect and staminate flowers. Here we tested theoretical predictions of size-dependent sex allocation in L. lankongense by measuring plant height and flower number of individuals of each sex at five field sites in the mountainous region of Shangri-La, southwestern China. To investigate variation in phenotypic gender, we identified sex expression of 457 individuals one year later. Our investigation showed that male plants, which usually produced one flower, were significantly smaller than andromonoecious and hermaphrodite plants. In addition, the total flower numbers of andromon...Continue Reading

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SPSS

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