Aims Interspecific and intraspecific variation in flower color in natural populations provides an opportunity for us to understand the evolu-tion and maintenance of diversity of floral traits.Compared to cor-olla colo...Aims Interspecific and intraspecific variation in flower color in natural populations provides an opportunity for us to understand the evolu-tion and maintenance of diversity of floral traits.Compared to cor-olla color,little is known about the color polymorphism of sexual organs in flowering plants.to explore evolutionary transitions of androecium color and polymorphism within species,interspecific and intraspecific variation in androecium(anther and pollen)color in the genus Epimedium(Berberidaceae)was investigated.Methods to explore the geographical patterns of anther/pollen color variation in Epimedium species,data of 45 species were collected and their phyl-ogeny was constructed based on available DNA sequences.to investi-gate whether intraspecific variation in androecium color relates to habitat preference,three environmental factors were measured in the field popu-lation of Epimedium pubescens in northeastern Sichuan,China,which plants had green or yellow androecia.Vegetative and reproductive traits of this species were compared between the two color morphs.Important Findings Androecium(anther and pollen)color polymorphism in field populations of Epimedium pubescens is reported here where nine populations are monomorphic with a green androecium but three populations are dimorphic with individuals having either a green or a yellow androecium.Inflorescence stalk height,stalk diameter,leaf number,flower number and spur length(as well as spur and nectar volume)were not significantly different between two morphs.Compared to the yellow morph,the green morph had relatively larger leaves and anthers,but smaller sepals.the green morph produced more pollen and larger seeds,but the same number of ovules.Seed set was not significantly different between green and yellow morph.Investigations of environmental factors in the color dimorphic popu-lations of E.pubescens indicated that the green morph was more likely to occur in habitats with relatively lower light intensity.the distribution survey of 45 Epimedium species sh展开更多
Flower color polymorphism exhibited by natural populations provides an opportunity for understanding the evolutionary mechanisms contributing to the diversity of floral morphology. However, little is known about the c...Flower color polymorphism exhibited by natural populations provides an opportunity for understanding the evolutionary mechanisms contributing to the diversity of floral morphology. However, little is known about the color polymorphism of female organs in flowering plants. Here we report gynoecium color polymorphism in Butornus urnbellatus （Butomaceae）, an emergent, aquatic monocot. Populations from Mishan, northeastern China comprised two morphs; gynoecia are either pink, as observed in other areas, or white. We measured floral traits and female fecundity in the two gynoecium color morphs in the field. There was no significant difference in plant height, pedicel length, and flower size including petal, sepal and gynoecium between the two morphs, but plants with pink gynoecia had wider inflorescence stalks, larger inner whorl anthers and produced more pollen and ovules than those with white gynoecia. Correspondingly, we found that seed production was significantly higher in the pink than in the white morph. This new finding suggested selection against white gynoecia in part because of low fecundity, consistent with the rarity of the white gynoecium morph in this species.展开更多
基金This work was supported by the National Science Foundation of China(No.U1402267,31270281)to S.Q.H.
文摘Aims Interspecific and intraspecific variation in flower color in natural populations provides an opportunity for us to understand the evolu-tion and maintenance of diversity of floral traits.Compared to cor-olla color,little is known about the color polymorphism of sexual organs in flowering plants.to explore evolutionary transitions of androecium color and polymorphism within species,interspecific and intraspecific variation in androecium(anther and pollen)color in the genus Epimedium(Berberidaceae)was investigated.Methods to explore the geographical patterns of anther/pollen color variation in Epimedium species,data of 45 species were collected and their phyl-ogeny was constructed based on available DNA sequences.to investi-gate whether intraspecific variation in androecium color relates to habitat preference,three environmental factors were measured in the field popu-lation of Epimedium pubescens in northeastern Sichuan,China,which plants had green or yellow androecia.Vegetative and reproductive traits of this species were compared between the two color morphs.Important Findings Androecium(anther and pollen)color polymorphism in field populations of Epimedium pubescens is reported here where nine populations are monomorphic with a green androecium but three populations are dimorphic with individuals having either a green or a yellow androecium.Inflorescence stalk height,stalk diameter,leaf number,flower number and spur length(as well as spur and nectar volume)were not significantly different between two morphs.Compared to the yellow morph,the green morph had relatively larger leaves and anthers,but smaller sepals.the green morph produced more pollen and larger seeds,but the same number of ovules.Seed set was not significantly different between green and yellow morph.Investigations of environmental factors in the color dimorphic popu-lations of E.pubescens indicated that the green morph was more likely to occur in habitats with relatively lower light intensity.the distribution survey of 45 Epimedium species sh
基金the Ministry of Education of China (NCET-04-0668) to SQHuang
文摘Flower color polymorphism exhibited by natural populations provides an opportunity for understanding the evolutionary mechanisms contributing to the diversity of floral morphology. However, little is known about the color polymorphism of female organs in flowering plants. Here we report gynoecium color polymorphism in Butornus urnbellatus （Butomaceae）, an emergent, aquatic monocot. Populations from Mishan, northeastern China comprised two morphs; gynoecia are either pink, as observed in other areas, or white. We measured floral traits and female fecundity in the two gynoecium color morphs in the field. There was no significant difference in plant height, pedicel length, and flower size including petal, sepal and gynoecium between the two morphs, but plants with pink gynoecia had wider inflorescence stalks, larger inner whorl anthers and produced more pollen and ovules than those with white gynoecia. Correspondingly, we found that seed production was significantly higher in the pink than in the white morph. This new finding suggested selection against white gynoecia in part because of low fecundity, consistent with the rarity of the white gynoecium morph in this species.
