Studies in Crataegus (Rosaceae: Maloideae). XIV. The breeding system of Crataegus crus-galli sensu lato in Ontario

Crataegus crus-galli L. sensu lato in southern Ontario is a complex of taxa, two of which appear to consist exclusively of both triploid and tetraploid individuals. While pollen fertility is reduced in triploids, both ploidy levels are characterized by production of eight nucleate aposporous embryo-sacs and hence remain seed-fertile; in addition, single, apparently sexual, embryo-sacs are found in the ovules of tetraploids. Agamospermy is shown experimentally to be pseudogamous. Polyploidy in C. crus-galli s.l. is accompanied by self-compatibility, in contrast to the self-incompatibility of diploid Crataegus species such as C punctata, with which comparison is made. The weediness of the component taxa of C crus-galli s.l., in general, and their tendency toward uniparental reproduction, in particular, may explain the homogeneity of their topodemes, and the way in which these topodemes may be markedly differentiated from one another even within a single taxon.