Infraspecific polyploidy and gynodioecism in Ptilotus obovatus (Amaranthaceae)

Abstract

A basic chromosome number of x = 27 is constant in 14 species of Ptilotus examined. This basic number may be polyploid in derivation, with the entire genus having developed at a stabilized hexaploid level from an ancestral stock with x = 9. Only one species, P. obovatus (Gaud.) F. Muell., shows cytotypic variation, with diploid and tetraploid forms having n = 27 and n = 54 respectively. The tetraploid biotype is relatively uniform morphologically and is distributed throughout the species area studied. Diploid biotypes are more variable morphologically and of more local occurrence, and may be isolated relicts. The adaptive tetraploid biotype has probably been a more successful recolonizer of the arid zone following Recent arid maxima. Gynodioecism is of general occurrence in both diploid and tetraploid races of P. obovatus, and is probably effective as an outcrossing mechanism in this self-compatible species. The sex ratio varies between populations, and may be in dynamic equilibrium with the genetic effects of polyploidy and the selective effects of habitat stability.