Question

Angiosperm flowers may be monoecious, cleistogamous or show self-incompatibility. Describe the characteristic features of each one of them and state which one of these flowers promotes inbreeding and outbreeding, respectively.

Answer 1

When a plant bears both staminate and pistillate flowers on the same individual, it is called monoecious. Cleistogamy refers to flowers that never open and are thus pollinated by their own pollen, promoting inbreeding. Self-incompatibility occurs when a pistil fails to set seed with its own pollen but can be fertilized by pollen from another plant, encouraging outbreeding by cross-pollination. Hence, cleistogamous flowers promote inbreeding, while self-incompatibility promotes outbreeding.