Patterns of biomass allocation to male and female functions in plants with different mating systems

Using dry weight biomass we examined the patterns of investment in male and female functions (prezygotic cost) in plants with different mating systems. All the flower parts of both xenogamous and facultatively xenogamous species were heavier, i.e., larger, than those of facultatively autogamous species. Likewise, the dry weights of all the flower parts of xenogamous species exceeded those of facultatively xenogamous species. On a relative basis, xenogamous species invested less in calyces and more in corollas compared to species with the other mating systems. Facultatively autogamous species invested relatively more in pistils. Xenogamous species invested relatively more in stamens than do facultatively autogamous species. The ratios of dry weight stamens to dry weight pistils were equivalent in xenogamous and facultatively xenogamous species.The available data from xenogamous species suggest a pattern of resource allocation that is independent of sexual system (perfect-flowered, monoecious, or dioecious) and pollen vector. The cost of mating (prezygotic cost) was male biased and frequently exceeded by parental investment (postzygotic cost). These results are not consistent with models that predict equal allocation of resources to male and female sexual function but are consistent with those that predict unequal allocation of resources to those functions in outbreeding hermaphroditic angiosperms. Two additional lines of evidence are inconsistent with the expectations of sex allocation theory. First, resource allocation to sexual function was not equal in wind-pollinated species. Second, relative amounts of the resources allocated to male vis-à-vis female function did not decrease between xenogamy and facultative xenogamy i.e., with an increase in the selfing rate.