Abstract
Several species of Villarsia in Western Australia are distylous, but their floral morphology is variable and mostly differs from the expected positional relationships of stigmas and anthers. Villarsia albiflora is non‐heterostylous but self‐incompatible. In the distylous V. calthifolia, V. capitata, and V. lasiosperma, morph ratios were 1:1, but in some populations of V. parnassiifolia the short morph was present in excess. Ovule production per flower of the two morphs of the distylous species varied between populations, but within most populations was equal. In nine populations of the distylous species, percentage seed‐set of Longs and Shorts was equal. In the five populations of the distylous species in which percentage seed‐set differed between the morphs, seed‐set of Longs exceeded that of Shorts. In four populations of V. parnassiifolia with Shorts in excess, percentage seed‐set of the two morphs was equal; in a fifth, that of Longs exceeded that of Shorts. Percent seed‐set of V. albiflora did not differ from that of the distylous species and remained constant during the flowering season despite a substantial decrease in ovule production during this period. This study demonstrated no reproductive advantage of distyly over monomorphism in the species studied.
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