Female sterility associated with increased clonal propagation suggests a unique combination of androdioecy and asexual reproduction in populations of Cardamine amara (Brassicaceae)

Abstract

The results suggest that a combination of sexual reproduction and increased asexual proliferation by female-sterile individuals probably explains the invasion and maintenance of female sterility in otherwise hermaphroditic populations. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the coexistence of female sterility and hermaphrodites in the Brassicaceae.