Contribution Of Delayed Autonomous Selfing To Reproductive Success In Kosteletzkya Virginica

Kosteletzkya virginica exhibits a delayed autonomous selfing mechanism by stigma lobe curvature. To measure the contribution of delayed selfing to reproductive success in a naturalised population of K. virginica, we evaluated the capacity for autonomous self-pollination and compared reproductive success of intact with emasculated open-pollinated flowers. We found no significant differences in the mean number of pollen grains deposited per flower and per stigma between the autonomously pollinated and open-pollinated flowers. There were no significant differences in mean fruit set and in mean number of seeds per capsule between autonomous and hand self-pollination. Fruit set following self-pollination varied significantly depending on the timing of pollination within a day. Emasculation and pollination treatments did not significantly affect fruit set. In contrast, the mean number of seeds per capsule from intact open-pollinated flowers was higher than that of emasculated open-pollinated flowers. These results indicate that K virginica has a well-developed capacity for delayed autonomous selfing, which increased seed production in the study population.