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AOBPreview published online on June 18, 2003
Annals of Botany, doi:10.1093/aob/mcg125
© 2003 by Annals of Botany Company
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Submitted on December 9, 2002
Revised on March 7, 2003
Accepted on April 25, 2003

Sex Allocation of Females and Hermaphrodites in the Gynodioecious Geranium sylvaticum

SATU RAMULA1* and PIA MUTIKAINEN2

Affiliation of the authors: 1 Department of Natural Sciences, Södertörn University College, SE-14189 Huddinge, Sweden; 2 Department of Biology, University of Oulu, PO Box 3000, FIN-90014 Oulu, Finland

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: satu.ramula{at}sh.se.

Seed production and patterns of sex allocation were studied in female and hermaphroditic plants in two gynodioecious populations of Geranium sylvaticum (Geraniaceae). Females produced more flower buds and seeds than hermaphrodites in one of the two study populations. The other female traits measured (pistil biomass, seed number per fruit, individual seed mass) did not differ between the gender morphs. The relative seed fitness of hermaphrodites differed between the study populations, with hermaphrodites gaining less of their fitness through female function in the population with a high frequency of females. However, the amount and size of pollen produced by hermaphrodites did not differ between populations. The number of flower buds was positively correlated with seed production in females, whereas in hermaphrodites a positive correlation between number of buds and seed production was found in only one of the two study populations. These results suggest that fitness gain through female function is labile in hermaphrodites of this species, and is probably affected by environmental factors such as the sex ratio of the population.
Key words: Geranium sylvaticum, Geraniaceae, gynodioecy, sex allocation, pollen production.


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