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Author’s Summary (Copyright-Compliant)
This study reports rare fruit production on predominantly staminate individuals of Portulacaria pygmaea, a species traditionally regarded as strictly dioecious.
Among more than 20 cultivated plants, three cases of fruit development were observed.
Controlled pollination experiments confirmed that these individuals retained full male function while occasionally producing pistillate flowers at extremely low frequency.
Seeds produced on these plants contained viable embryos and germinated successfully.
These findings support the presence of gynodioecy—populations composed of female individuals and predominantly staminate individuals that sporadically express pistillate flowers.
Similar reproductive systems have been documented in P. afra and P. kaokoensis, suggesting evolutionary lability in sex expression within Portulacarioideae.
Acknowledgment
I express my sincere gratitude to
Dr. Glynis V. Cron (University of Johannesburg / Editor, SAJB)
for her thoughtful and constructive editorial guidance.
Her insights greatly improved the clarity and rigor of the manuscript, and I hold her contribution in the highest regard.