PubMed · 2026-01-05
Researchers discovered that individual plants of four Chamaecrista species alternate the direction of their flower styles day by day, even though the overall population maintains a balanced mix. This daily switching may help prevent self-pollination and encourage cross-pollination between plants.
Across four Chamaecrista species, populations maintained a near 1:1 ratio of left- and right-styled flowers over two full flowering seasons.
Individual plants frequently showed unbalanced morph ratios on any given day, with C. diphylla, C. rotundifolia, and C. flexuosa showing significantly more days with unbalanced ratios than C. ramosa.
Daily alternation of flower morph within individuals functions like a temporal form of dimorphism, potentially reducing self-pollination (geitonogamy) and promoting cross-pollination between differently styled flowers.
