Late flowering and low synchrony with males enhance female reproductive success in the dioecious palm Chamaedorea pinnatifrons

Abstract

INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION MATERIALS AND METHODS RESULTS DISCUSSION Conclusion LITERATURE CITED Dioecious plants (i.e., with separate sexes) obligatorily require the contribution of a conspecific, and the synchronization of a series of events to achieve sexual reproduction (Bawa 1980). In these plants pollination is only possible when a series of successive events occur: temporal overlap of male and female flowering, sufficient quality pollen is produced by male plants, there is an effective mechanism for pollen capture in female plants, and adequate pollen transportation (Givnish 1982). However, pollination could be farther affected by population density, population sex ratio, individual phenological behavior, individual size, and the species pollination system ( ...