Coexistence of Monoecious and Dioecious Hydrilla in Lake Gaston, North Carolina and Virginia

Abstract

Biotypes of hydrilla ( Hydrilla verticillata (L.f.) Royle) at two sites in North Carolina were characterized by growth habit and flower type under controlled conditions, patterns of tuber proteins after electrophoresis, and reaction of DNAs with a single primer in the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) reaction. Plants from Burnt Mill Creek in Wilmington, in the southeastern part of the state, were dioecious by all criteria. Plants of both the monoecious and dioecious biotype were found in Lake Gaston, at the Virginia-North Carolina border. This is the first report of the presence of plants of both biotypes in a single body of water.