Selfing and outcrossing but no apomixis in two natural populations of diploid <i>Potentilla argentea</i>

Abstract

Abstract It has been suggested that diploid Potentilla argentea , hoary cinquefoil, is a facultative apomict. We have investigated the way such plants produce seeds under natural conditions in two populations from southern Sweden. About one hundred plants were studied cytometrically to ascertain their ploidy level. A standard population investigation based on two informative isozyme loci was then performed on the diploid plants. Finally, seeds were taken from heterozygous plants to determine the genetic constitution of their offspring. From the offspring analysis it followed that apomixis did not occur, at least not to any noticeable degree. From the population investigation it could be deduced that most seeds were produced by selfing.