engleski

Sexual dimorphism in gynodioecious Sidalcea hirtipes (Malvaceae). II. Floral traits

A morphometric study of 14 floral traits in females and hermaphrodites of Sidalcea hirtipes was conducted to test the hypothesis that the sexual dimorphism in corolla size can be explained entirely by size of the androecium (vestigial in females), as predicted by the corolla-androecium developmental correlation hypothesis. Overall, corolla, sepal, and stamen sizes were highly intercorrelated, while style length was largely orthogonal to these variables. Hermaphrodites significantly exceeded females in size of most corolla dimensions. However, ANCOVA revealed that the sex difference in corolla size can be attributed solely to the difference in stamen length. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the androecium is an important regulatory organ for floral development and that one pleiotropic effect of male sterility in S. hirtipes has been a reduction in corolla size. However, length of style and sepals did not conform to this pattern, indicating that these traits are more independent of androecium function than most dimensions of corolla size.

gynodioecy; male sterility; development; corolla; androecium; analysis of covariance

nije evidentirano