Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Morph-specific variation of floral traits associated with reciprocal herkogamy in natural populations of Primula vulgaris and Primula veris

  • Published:
Plant Systematics and Evolution Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Documenting the morph-specific variation of floral traits associated with reciprocal herkogamy is of special importance for revealing the functional significance of traits in the evolution and maintenance of the heterostylous syndrome. In order to describe the extent and specificity of variation, stigma height, anther height, stigma-anther separation and corolla tube length were measured on 800 flowers collected in two natural populations of Primula vulgaris and P. veris. Beside the almost complete separation of stigma heights between the two morphs, we found appreciable intermorph overlap in anther height and relatively broad range of stigma-anther separation so far reported for heterostylous species. The corolla tube length–stigma-anther separation relationship showed striking difference between the two floral morphs, which supports the hypothesis that length of the corolla tube plays a more important role in positioning the sex-organs in the appropriate distance in the short-styled than in the long-styled morph.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Baker AM, Thompson JD and Barrett SCH (2000). Evolution and maintenance of stigma-height dimorphism in Narcissus. I. Floral variation and style-morph ratios. Heredity 84: 502–513

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett SCH (2002a). The evolution of plant sexual diversity. Nature Rev Genet 3: 274–284

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett SCH (2002b). Sexual interference of the floral kind. Heredity 88: 154–159

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett SCH (2003). Mating strategies in flowering plants: the outcrossing-selfing paradigm and beyond. Philos Trans Roy Soc London Ser B 358: 991–1004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beach JH and Bawa KS (1980). Role of pollinators in the evolution of dioecy from distyly. Evolution 34: 1138–1143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brunet J and Eckert CG (1998). Effects of floral morphology and display on outcrossing in blue columbine, Aquilegia caerulea (Ranunculaceae). Funct Ecol 12: 596–606

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell DR, Waser NM and Price MV (1994). Indirect selection of stigma position in Ipomopsis aggregata via a genetically correlated trait. Evolution 48: 55–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell DR, Waser NM and Price MV (1996). Mechanisms of hummingbird-mediated selection for flower width in Ipomopsis aggregata. Ecology 77: 1463–1472

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castro CC and Araujo AC (2004). Distyly and sequential pollinators of Psychotria nuda (Rubiaceae) in the Atlantic rain forest Brazil. Pl Syst Evol 244: 131–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cesaro AC, Barrett SCH, Maurice S, Vaissiere BE and Thompson JD (2004). An experimental evaluation of self-interference in Narcissus assoanus: functional and evolutionary implications. J Evol Biol 17: 1367–1376

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Charlesworth D and Charlesworth B (1987). Inbreeding depression and its evolutionary consequences. Annual Rev Ecol Syst 18: 237–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conner JK (1997). Floral evolution in wild radish: the roles of pollinators, natural selection and genetic correlations among traits. Int J Pl Sci 158: S108–S120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conner JK, Davis R and Rush S (1995). The effect of wild radish floral morphology on pollination efficiency by four taxa of pollinators. Oecologia 104: 234–245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conner JK and Sterling A (1995). Testing hypotheses of functional relationship: a comparative survey of correlation patterns among floral traits in five insect-pollinated plants. Amer J Bot 82: 1399–1406

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conner JK and Via S (1993). Patterns of phenotypic and genetic correlations among morphological and life-history traits in wild radish, Raphanus raphanistrum. Evolution 47: 704–711

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Contreras PS and Ornelas JF (1999). Reproductive conflicts of Palicourea padifolia (Rubiaceae) a distylous shrub of a tropical cloud forest in Mexico. Pl Syst Evol 219: 225–241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cresswell JE (1998). Stabilizing selection and the structural variability of flowers within species. Ann Bot 81: 463–473

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cresswell JE (2000). Manipulation of female architecture in flowers reveals a narrow optimum for pollen deposition. Ecology 81: 3244–3249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darwin C (1876). The effects of cross and self-fertilization in the vegetable kingdom. John Murray, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Darwin C (1877). The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species. John Murray, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Dellaporta SL and Calderon-Urrea A (1993). Sex determination in flowering plants. Pl Cell 5: 1241–1251

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dulberger R (1970). Floral dimorphism in Anchusa hybrida Ten. Israel J Bot 19: 37–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Dulberger R (1973). Distyly in Linum pubescens and Linum mucronatum. Bot J Linn Soc 66: 117–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faivre AE and McDade LA (2001). Population-level variation in the expression of heterostyly in three species of Rubiaceae: does reciprocal placement of anthers and stigmas characterize heterostyly. Amer J Bot 88: 841–853

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galen C and Cuba J (2001). Down the tube: pollinators, predators and the evolution of flower shape in the alpine skypilot, Polemonium viscosum. Evolution 55: 1963–1971

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ganders FR (1979a). The biology of heterostyly. New Zealand J Bot 217: 607–635

    Google Scholar 

  • Ganders FR (1979b). Heterostyly in Erythroxylum coca (Erythroxylaceae). Bot J Linn Soc 78: 11–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harder LD and Barrett SCH (1993). Pollen removal from tristylous Pontederia cordata: effects of anther position and pollinator specialization. Ecology 74: 1059–1072

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hegi G (1975). Illustrierte Flora von Mittel-Europa. Band 5. Paul Parey, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Heslop-Harrison Y, Heslop-Harrison J and Shivanna KR (1981). Heterostyly in Primula. 1. Fine-structural and cytochemical features of the stigma and style in Primula vulgaris Huds. Protoplasma 107: 171–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hultén E and Fries M (1986). Atlas of north European vascular plants north of the tropic of cancer. Koeltz Scientific Books, Königstein

    Google Scholar 

  • Husband BC and Schemske DW (1996). Evolution of the magnitude and timing of inbreeding depression in plants. Evolution 50: 54–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kálmán K (2005) Floral biological investigations in the hybridization zone of two heterostylous Primula species. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Szeged, Hungary, p 180

  • Kálmán K, Medvegy A and Mihalik E (1998). Quantitative characteristics of the gynoecium in Primula vulgaris Huds. Acta Biol Szeged 43: 5–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Kálmán K, Medvegy A and Mihalik E (2004). Patterns of the floral variation in the hybrid zone of two distylous Primula species. Flora 199: 218–227

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly JK (2005). Family level inbreeding depression and the evolution of plant mating systems. New Phytol 165: 55–62

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kleunen M and Ritland K (2004). Predicting evolution of floral traits associated with mating system in a natural plant population. J Evol Biol 17: 1389–1399

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kohn JR and Barrett SC H (1992). Experimental studies on the functional significance of heterostyly. Evolution 46: 43–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kudo G (2003). Anther arrangement influences pollen deposition and removal in hermaphrodite flowers. Funct Ecol 17: 349–355

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kudoh H, Sugawara T, Wu S and Murata J (2001). Morph-specific correlation between floral traits in a distylous Ophiorrhiza napoensis (Rubiaceae) population in southern China. J Trop Ecol 17: 719–728

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Länger R and Saukel J (1993). Systematics of Primula veris (Primulaceae). Pl Syst Evol 188: 31–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lau P and Bosque C (2003). Pollen flow in the distylous Palicourea fendleri (Rubiaceae): an experimental test of the Disassortative Pollen Flow Hypothesis. Oecologia 135: 593–600

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd DG and Webb CJ (1992a). The evolution of heterostyly. In: Barrett, SCH (eds) Evolution and function of heterostyly, pp 151–178. Springer, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd DG and Webb CJ (1992b). The selection of heterostyly. In: Barrett, SC H (eds) Evolution and function of heterostyly, pp 179–207. Springer, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Massinga PH, Johnson SD and Harder LD (2005). Heteromorphic incompatibility and efficiency of pollination in two distylous Pentanisia species (Rubiaceae). Ann Bot 95: 389–399

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Medrano M, Herrera CM and Barrett SCH (2005). Herkogamy and mating patterns in the self-compatible daffodil Narcissus longispathus. Ann Bot 95: 1105–1111

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Motten AF and Stone JD (2000). Heritability of stigma position and the effect of stigma-anther separation on outcrossing in a predominantly self-fertilizing weed, Datura stramonium (Solanaceae). Amer J Bot 87: 339–347

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholls MS (1986). Population composition, gender specialization and the adaptive significance of distyly in Linum perenne (Linaceae). New Phytol 102: 209–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nishihiro J, Washitani I, Thomson JD and Thomson BA (2000). Patterns and consequences of stigma height variation in a natural population of a distylous plant, Primula sieboldii. Funct Ecol 14: 502–512

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Opler PA, Baker HG and Frankie GW (1975). Reproductive biology of some Costa Rican Cordia species (Boraginaceae). Biotropica 7: 234–247

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ornduff R (1979). Pollen flow in a population of Primula vulgaris Huds. Bot J Linn Soc 78: 1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ornduff R (1980). Pollen flow in Primula veris (Primulaceae). Pl Syst Evol 135: 89–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ornelas JF, Jiménez L, González C and Hernández A (2004). Reproductive ecology of distylous Palicourea padifolia (Rubiaceae) in a tropical montane cloud forest. I Hummingbirds' effectiveness as pollen vectors. Amer J Bot 91: 1052–1060

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pailler T, Humeau L and Thompson JD (1998). Distyly and heteromorphic incompatibility in oceanic island species of Erythroxylum (Erythroxylaceae). Pl Syst Evol 213: 187–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pailler T, Maurice S and Thompson JD (2002). Pollen transfer patterns in a distylous plant with overlapping pollen-size distributions. Oikos 99: 308–316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pailler T and Thompson JD (1997). Distyly and variation in heteromorphic incompatibility in Gaertnera vaginata (Rubiaceae) endemic to La Réunion Island. Amer J Bot 84: 315–327

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parra-Tabla V and Bullock SH (2005). Ecological and selective effects of stigma-anther separation in the self-incompatible tropical tree Ipomoea wolcottiana (Convolvulaceae). Pl Syst Evol 252: 85–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Philipp M and Schou O (1981). An unusual heteromorphic incompatibility system: distyly, self-incompatibility, pollen load and fecundity in Anchusa officinalis (Boraginaceae). New Phytol 89: 693–703

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piper JG and Charlesworth B (1986). The evolution of distyly in Primula vulgaris. Biol J Linn Soc 29: 123–137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Development Core Team (2006) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. ISBN 3-900051-07-0, URL http://www.R-project.org.

  • Richards AJ (1997). Plant breeding systems, 2nd edn. Chapman and Hall, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Ree RH (1997). Pollen flow, fecundity and the adaptive significance of heterostyly in Palicourea padifolia (Rubiaceae.). Biotropica 29: 298–308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richards JH and Koptur S (1993). Floral variation and distyly in Guettarda scabra (Rubiaceae). Amer J Bot 80: 31–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silvertown JW and Charlesworth D (2001). Introduction to plant population biology, 4th edn. Blackwell Science, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • StatSoft, Inc. (2001) STATISTICA (data analysis software system), version 6.0 www.statsoft.com.

  • Stone JL (1995). Pollen donation patterns in a tropical distylous shrub (Psychotria suerrensis; Rubiaceae). Amer J Bot 82: 1390–1398

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stone JL and Thomson JD (1994). The evolution of distyly: pollen transfer in artificial flowers. Evolution 48: 1595–1606

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson FL, Hermanutz LA and Innes DJ (1998). The reproductive ecology of island populations of distylous Menyanthes trifoliata (Menyanthaceae). Canad J Bot 76: 818–828

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson JD and Dommée B (2000). Morph-specific patterns of variation in stigma height in natural populations of distylous Jasminum fruticans. New Phytol. 148: 303–314

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wedderburn F and Richards AJ (1990). Variation in within morph incompatibility inhibition sites in heteromorphic Primula L. New Phytol 116: 149–162

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, University of Szeged, P.O. Box 657, 6701, Szeged, Hungary

    K. Kálmán, A. Medvegy & E. Mihalik

  2. Department of Ecology, University of Szeged, and Institute of Genetics, Biological Research Center, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary

    Z. Pénzes

Authors
  1. K. Kálmán
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. Medvegy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Z. Pénzes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. E. Mihalik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Medvegy.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kálmán, K., Medvegy, A., Pénzes, Z. et al. Morph-specific variation of floral traits associated with reciprocal herkogamy in natural populations of Primula vulgaris and Primula veris . Plant Syst. Evol. 268, 15–27 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-007-0575-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-007-0575-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation