St. Kelley et Rg. Latta, Evidence for high rates of self-fertilization in the alpine herb Epilobiumanagallidifolium (Onagraceae), CAN J BOTAN, 76(11), 1998, pp. 1978-1980
Citations number
18
Categorie Soggetti
Plant Sciences
Journal title
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY-REVUE CANADIENNE DE BOTANIQUE
Epilobium anagallidifolium Lam., alpine willow-herb, is a small perennial h
erb found growing along the moist creek sides of recent snow runoff in alpi
ne regions. The floral morphology of E. anagallidifolium, in which the anth
ers rest neatly atop the stigma when the flower is closed, indicates this s
pecies may regularly self-fertilize. We determined the mating system of thi
s species by analyzing allozyme loci from 240 individuals in 20 different f
amilies (12 individuals per family) for two polymorphic enzymes: PGI and MD
H. In every family studied, all of the individuals within a family were hom
ozygous for the same alleles. These data support the hypothesis that Epilob
ium anagallidifolium reproduces primarily through self-fertilization, altho
ugh we cannot rule out the possibility of occasional pollinator-mediated cr
oss pollination.