The ecology of flower and bulbil production in Polygonum viviparum

Polygonum viviparum produces inflorescences which bear both sexual flowers and asexual bulbils in highly variable proportions. This paper investigates the proportion of flowers and bulbils per inflorescence at 12 sites in central Norway. It is shown that there is a 'trade—off between flowers and bulbils so that one cannot be increased without reducing the other'. On average, the balance is tilted in favour of bulbils, but there are significant differences in the proportion of bulbils per inflorescence among sites and among quadrats within 11 of the sites. Of these 11 sites there are 6 in which the proportion of bulbils per inflorescence is correlated with factors of the biotic environment. The factors include: (1) the amount of vascular plant cover, which is negatively correlated with the proportion of bulbils at 2 sites; (2) the cover of P. viviparum , which is positively correlated at 1 site; (3) the number of P. viviparum inflorescences, which is negatively correlated at 3 sites. The results suggest that both intra– and inter–specific factors of the biotic environment play a role in the control of bulbil and flower production in P. viviparum.