Investigating the longstanding mystery of stigma length differences between morphs of distylous plants

Abstract

Longer stigmas in short‐styled morphs of distylous plants have been considered an adaptive characteristic that increases intermorph pollen deposition. The greater pollen deposition in short‐styled stigmas may be a by‐product of their longer length, making deposition effectiveness comparison between morphs unfeasible. Thus, investigating which morph has the relatively most efficient stigma (i.e., pollen deposition per unit length) can boost our understanding of the adaptive significance of longer stigmas. Here, we compared pollen deposition between morphs relative to stigma length and assessed whether short‐styled stigmas are more, less, or equally effective in receiving pollen grains per unit length. We reviewed the literature to characterize the extent of sigma length differences between morphs using the two most speciose distylous genera as model systems: Palicourea and Psychotria (Rubiaceae). Then, we conducted a between‐morph comparison of raw and relative pollen depositions in a Palicourea rigida population. We confirmed that short‐styled stigmas were longer than long‐styled stigmas in both Palicourea (194.31% longer) and Psychotria (52.59% longer) flowers. Furthermore, in the focal Pal. rigida, although short‐styled stigmas were 268.04% longer and received 97.04% more pollen grains than long‐styled stigmas, the relative pollen deposition had a reverse pattern, with short‐styled stigmas being two‐times less efficient in receiving pollen. Our results indicate that the longer length of the short‐styled stigmas may have a compensatory effect, increasing the chances of pollen grains reaching the stigma and probably maintaining disassortative intermorph pollination in distylous plants.