ANDROMONOECY AND FRUIT-SET IN 3 GENERA OF THE PROTEACEAE

It has been suggested by some authors that the low fruit to flower rat io in some Proteaceae is due to andromonoecy, while others, looking pa rticularly at Banksia, have not been able to find evidence for male fl owers in the influorescences. Stirlingia latifolia, Xylomelum occident ale and X. angustifolium are clearly andromonoecous, while no evidence for this condition could be found in Brabejum stellatifolium. Product ion of fertile fruit is related to andromonoecy in Xylomelum and S. la tifolia but not in Brabejum. It is unlikely that all-encompassing solu tions will be found to what initially seem to be widespread traits in the family, especially in regard to pollination biology, as the genera in the family occupy widely different environments and have very dive rse ecological ranges.