Abstract
Morpho-anatomical studies of short-shoots of Thalassia testudinum Banks ex König collected in Tampa Bay, Florida from February 1979 to October 1980 ( n = 5394) demonstrated the presence of sexually reproductive short-shoots during all months, except August and September. Mean inflorescence lengths (MIL) indicated that little inflorescence development occurs during autumn and winter (MIL 0.2–1.0 mm); MIL's in 1979 increased rapidly during April (19.47 mm ± 17.04 mm SD) and May (74.10 mm ± 27.11 mm SD), peaking in June (110.17 mm ± 8.88 mm SD). Large standard deviations reflect the presence of early stage inflorescences throughout the reproductive season. This suggests possible genetic diversity and aseasonality for floral induction. Quantitative in situ observations from 1981 to 1985 detected significant temporal and spatial variations in reproductive patterns. Annual variations in flowering (anthesis) may be explained by the influence of environmental factors, such as water temperature and salinity, on inflorescence development and survival. Spatial patchiness in reproductive effort, negative correlations between male and female short-shoot distributions and sex-related differences in the number of leaf scars short-shoot −1 may reflect clonal variation and/or a possible interaction of ramet age with sex expression in this species.
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