Relative allocation to female and male function in hermaphroditic species often departs from strict equisexuality. Increased femaleness with plant size in animal-pollinated species has been proposed in theory and demonstrated in empirical studies. However, such size-dependent sex allocation (SDS) has not been observed in some insect-pollinated species, throwing doubt on the generalization of SD...

Chloroplast (trnL–F and rbcL) sequences were used to reconstruct the phylogeny of Geraniaceae and Hypseocharitaceae. According to these data Hypseocharitaceae and Geraniaceae are monophyletic. Pelargonium and Monsonia are sisters to the largest clade of Geraniaceae, formed by Geranium, Erodium and California. According to molecular dating and dispersal-vicariance analysis, the split of the stem...

The effects of compost based substrates on growth and nutrition of geranium (Pelargonium zonale cv Lucky Break F2) were investigated. Substrates of manure compost, cotton gin trash compost, municipal solid waste compost and pine bark utilized as potting media for domestic use, produced an underdevelopment of geranium plants with respect to the control. This behaviour is related to the inferior ...

Serological cross-reactions among eighteen virus isolates of the tombusvirus group were compared in precipitin tube and immunodiffusion serological tests. The isolates were also compared by immunoelectrophoresis in agar gel. Although precipitin tube tests showed considerable and reproducible differences between the various isolates, the results were too greatly affected by other factors to be o...

Brevipalpus mites colonize a great number of fruit and ornamental plants. Mite species belonging to this genus have been associated with many plant viruses. Citrus leprosis (CiLV) is the most economically important virus transmitted by B. phoenicis mites. It has recently been shown that ornamental plant species can be alternative hosts of this virus. The high volume of trade and frequent moveme...

Phytoremediation appears to be a promising technique for metal soil clean up, although its successful application on a large scale still remains a challenge. Field experiments for six scented Pelargonium cultivars, conducted on two Pb-contaminated calcareous and acidic soils, revealed vigorous plant growth, with no symptoms of morpho-phytotoxicity in spite of high Pb accumulation levels. Lead c...