. Fruit set increases with maleness in the andromonoecious Acacia caven

CALVIÑO ANA; ASHWORTH LORENA; MOYETTA, NATALIA R.

FLORA

ELSEVIER GMBH

Año: 2014

0367-2530

n long-lived plants, sexual expression can be highly variable in time and space. The extent to whichsexual dimorphism of flowers is expressed in the same or in separate individuals, may have implicationsfor the plants? dependence on pollen vectors, the compatibility of the pollen received, and the potentialfor setting fruit. Here, we account for variability in sexual expression in the small tree Acacia caven, whichproduces hermaphrodite and male flowers on the same or in separate individuals. We focus on whetherindividual sexual expression influences fruit set, which latter has been reported to be extremely low in thisspecies. Individual sexual expression, estimated as the hermaphrodite: male flowers ratio was variableboth within and among plants across two reproductive seasons. Though male flower production could bevery high (up to 99% of the flowers), all trees produced both flower types within the same individual, thusconfirming andromonoecy in this species. More interestingly, her