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Questions and Answers: 2018

Question: Question about Rubus chamaemorus. Flowers are unisexual, only 1 flower on each aboveground stem. The stems grow from rhizomes. Do …

• Question

  Question about Rubus chamaemorus. Flowers are unisexual, only 1 flower on each aboveground stem. The stems grow from rhizomes. Do rhizomes produce more than one aboveground stem? If so, are individual plants monecious, with both staminate and carpellate flowers produced by the same rhizome, or dioecious, with flowers of only one sex produced from one rhizome?

  Answer

  Thokozile, the rhizomes can be quite long, and could produce more than one upright stem. However, I haven't ever unearthed the rhizomes to count upright shoots. Assuming they do sometimes produce more than one upright shoot, both shoots would produce the same kind of flower (i.e., the rhizome would give rise to only staminate or only carpellate flowers). Typically, in plants, it is the genetic individual that is carpellate or staminate when species are dioecious. Best wishes.