Sex dimorphism in shoot morphology of Antennaria dioica (L.) Gaertner (Compositae)

Abstract

Determination the sex of the plant shoots without using features of a separate capitulum is important in population-based studies. I tested hypothesis that Antennaria dioica has statistically significant differences in morphological traits between female and male shoots. Eight morphological features and 1907 shoots from the three geographically separated regions were studied. Reliable difference was found in height of generative shoots, rosette diameter and number of cauline leaves. However, the traits studied had significant overlap within individual populations and did not demonstrate significant differencces within a region. Therefore, none of the traits presented can be used to determine the sex of an individual.