Abstract
In the seagrassPhyllospadix scouleri (Zosteraceae) floral aggregates (spadices) occur on short lateral axes produced by subordinate vegetative shoots. The filamentous pollen is both dispersed on the surface of the sea as well as below the surface. In surface pollination, snowflake-like search vehicles (pollen rafts) float and collide with any rigid female inflorescences that emerge from the water surface. In submarine pollination, collinear bundles of pollen grains are dispersed. Analysis of seed set indicates ovule position within the inflorescence to affect likelihood of fertilization in submarine, but not surface-pollinated inflorescences. Agamospermy appears to be unlikely, but the strongly female-biased shoot sex ratio remains to be explained.
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Cox, P.A., Tomlinson, P.B. & Nieznanski, K. Hydrophilous pollination and reproductive morphology in the seagrassPhyllospadix scouleri (Zosteraceae). Pl Syst Evol 180, 65–75 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00940398
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00940398