“…Polyploids often show larger stomatal guard cells, larger stomatal openings, a lower stomatal density, and wider xylem conduits. This in turn affects water transport but can do so in opposite directions, providing a positive (Vyas et al 2007, Ntuli and Zobolo 2008, Zhou et al 2015, Dudits et al 2016, Wang et al 2019, Yang et al 2019, Zhang et al 2020), negative (Niu et al 2016), or neutral (Solhaug et al 2016) effect on photosynthetic rates and usually increasing drought resistance (Ntuli and Zobolo 2008, Li et al 2009, van Laere et al 2011, Deng et al 2012, Del Pozo and Ramirez‐Parra 2014, Zhang et al 2015, Rao et al 2020, Jiang et al 2022). Moreover, the increased surface area to volume ratio of larger cells slows down the cell cycle (Cavalier‐Smith 1978, Comai 2005).…”