Gender and Sexual Dimorphism in Flowering Plants

While the majority of flowering plant species are hermaphroditic, gender di­ morphism, or the occurrence of two sexual morphs, has, nevertheless, evolved on repeated occasions. Gender dimorphism is found in nearly half of all angio­ sperm families and in approximately 10% of flowering plant species. Where plants are dimorphic in gender, they can also be dimorphic in secondary sex characters. We refer to dimorphism of the latter kind as sexual dimorphism, in keeping with the term's usage by ...