Journal
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
Volume 87, Issue 1, Pages 124-132Publisher
BOTANICAL SOC AMER INC
DOI: 10.2307/2656690
Keywords
Campanulaceae; fitness; fruit size; germination; Lobelia inflata; rosette; seed number; wed size; survival
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Seed germination constitutes an important event in the life cycle of plants. Two related seed traits affect fitness: seed size and the timing of seed germination. In three sets of experiments, we (1) partition the sources of seed-size variance in Lobelia inflata into components attributable to fruit size, relative fruit position, and parental identity; (2) examine the influence of pregermination conditions and seed size on time to germination; and (3) assess the fitness consequences of seed size and germination timing under seminatural, harsh conditions. Seed-size variance is attributable to both parental identity and fruit position within an individual. Distal fruits produce larger but fewer seeds. No significant correlation exists between fruit size and seed size, but a trade-off is found between the number and size of seeds contained in a fruit afcer correcting for fruit size. The timing of germination is influenced by seed size, light conditions before winter, and winter duration. Germination timing influences survival, and despite small seed size in this species (2 x 10(-5) g/seed), seed sire has a persistent and significant association with both final plant size and the probability of survival to autumn.
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