The maleness of larger angiosperm flowers.

ABSTRACT: Flower biomass varies widely across the angiosperms. Each plant species invests a given amount of biomass to construct its sex organs. A comparative understanding of how this limited resource is partitioned among primary (male and female structures) and secondary (petals and sepals) sexual organs on hermaphrodite species can shed light on general evolutionary processes behind flower evolution. Here, we use allometries relating different flower biomass components across species to test the existence of broad allocation patterns across the angiosperms. Based on a global dataset with flower biomass spanning five orders of magnitude, we show that heavier angiosperm flowers tend to be male-biased and invest strongly in petals to promote pollen export, while lighter flowers tend to be female-bia

SUBMITTER: Paterno GB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7245066 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature