Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate

male Male (Mars symbol, symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization. A male organism cannot sexual reproduction, repro ...

and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system alongside gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy. Monoecy is connected to anemophily. It can prevent self-pollination in an individual flower but cannot prevent self-pollination between male and female flowers on the same plant. Monoecy in

angiosperms Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of br ...

has been of interest for evolutionary biologists since

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

Terminology

Monoecious comes from the Greek words for one house.

History

The term monoecy was first introduced in 1735 by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, ...

Darwin Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a territorial capital city i ...

noted that the flowers of monoecious species sometimes showed traces of the opposite sex function. Monoecious hemp was first reported in 1929.

Occurrence

Monoecy is most common in

temperate climate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...

s and is often associated with inefficient pollinators or wind-pollinated plants. It may be beneficial to reducing pollen-stigma interference, thus increasing seed production. Around 10% of all seed plant species are monoecious. It is present in 7% of

. Most Cucurbitaceae are monoecious including most

watermelon Watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit. A scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 var ...

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

s. It is prevalent in Euphorbiaceae. . . Dioecy is replaced by monoecy in the polyploid subspecies of '' Empetrum nigrum'', ''E. nigrum'' ssp. ''hermaphroditum'' and polyploid populations of '' Mercurialis annua''.

Evolution

The evolution of monoecy has received little attention. Male and female flowers evolve from hermaphroditic flowers via andromonoecy or gynomonoecy. In

Amaranth ''Amaranthus'' is a cosmopolitan genus of annual or short-lived perennial plants collectively known as amaranths. Some amaranth species are cultivated as leaf vegetables, pseudocereals, and ornamental plants. Catkin-like cymes of densely ...

s monoecy may have evolved from hermaphroditism through various processes caused by male sterility genes and female fertility genes. Monoecy has also been proposed to be an intermediate state between hermaphroditism and dioecy. Evolution from dioecy to monoecy probably involves disruptive selection on floral sex ratios. Monoecy is also considered to be a step in the evolutionary pathway from hermaphroditism towards dioecy. Some authors even argue monoecy and dioecy are related. But, there is also evidence that monoecy is a pathway from sequential hermaphroditism to dioecy.

References

{{Reflist Plant reproductive system Sexual system

Terminology

History

Occurrence

Evolution

See also

References