Genetic consequences of rarity in Aster furcatus (Asteraceae), a threatened, self-incompatible plant

Abstract

Aster furcatus is a rare, self-incompatible plant with <50 known populations throughout its range. Self-incompatibility was continued by self- and cross-pollinations and by examining seed set in a small population composed of a single clonal genet. Variation was examined at 22 electrophoretic loci in 23 populations from Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri. Except for two rare alleles found in single individuals in three populations, all loci but one were fixed for single alleles. -from Authors