Staggered Flowering in Four Sympatric Varieties of Geonoma cuneata (Palmae)

Phenology, flowering biology, and pollination were studied for one year in four sympatric varieties of the polymorphic palm Geonoma cuneata in Ecuador. Flowering seasons of the three most common varieties were significantly staggered resulting in minimal temporal overlap. No marked differences were found with respect to flowering biology or pollination. The implication of these findings for explaining the complicated morphological variation pattern found in G cuneata and similar species complexes is discussed.