Floral symmetry and scaling relationships between tepal mass and area in the daylily (Hemerocallis fulva)
Floral symmetry plays an important role in the evolution and ecology of flowering plants, yet quantifying the symmetry of the perianth remains challenging. Here, we quantify the floral symmetry of the daylily (Hemerocallis fulva) with a focus on tepal mass, area, and shape. H. fulva was selected for...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-07-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Plant Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2025.1599033/full |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849714735955574784 |
|---|---|
| author | Hongyu Yan Peijian Shi Weihao Yao Feixue Jiang Long Chen Linli Deng Meng Lian Yi Heng Karl J. Niklas |
| author_facet | Hongyu Yan Peijian Shi Weihao Yao Feixue Jiang Long Chen Linli Deng Meng Lian Yi Heng Karl J. Niklas |
| author_sort | Hongyu Yan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Floral symmetry plays an important role in the evolution and ecology of flowering plants, yet quantifying the symmetry of the perianth remains challenging. Here, we quantify the floral symmetry of the daylily (Hemerocallis fulva) with a focus on tepal mass, area, and shape. H. fulva was selected for this study because its perianth exhibits weak bilateral symmetry, providing a unique opportunity to investigate floral forms that are transitional between radial and bilateral symmetry. Toward this end, the tepal fresh mass (FM), dry mass (DM), tepal area (A), and the ratio of tepal width to length (W/L) of 136 flowers of H. fulva were quantified. In addition, the tepal roundness index (RI) and the standardized index for bilateral asymmetry (SI) were calculated. For the purpose of comparison, the FM, DM, and A of 202 leaves were measured and calculated. Reduced major axis regression protocols were then used to fit the scaling relationships of mass vs. area for tepals and leaves. With the exception of W/L, there were no significant differences in the means of FM, DM, A, RI, and ln(SI) between any two of the three inner whorl tepals or between any two of the three outer whorl tepals. However, there were significant differences in the means of these six measures between inner and outer whorls of tepals. The 95% confidence intervals of the scaling exponents of FM vs. A and DM vs. A of the outer whorl included unity. In contrast, the lower bounds of the 95% confidence intervals of the scaling exponents of FM vs. A and DM vs. A of the inner whorl and leaves of H. fulva exceeded unity. Different metrics for size (i.e., tepal mass vs. area) and shape (i.e., the degree of deviation from a standard circle and the degree of bilateral symmetry) yield different assessments of H. fulva perianth morphometrics (i.e. radial vs. bilateral symmetry), thereby highlighting the challenge of assessing symmetry. The scaling relationships of perianth parts and leaves are statistically congruent and consistent with the phenomenon called “diminishing returns” and the classical hypothesis of serial homology. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-829cbafacb6b40ab96bb0c350aa9d74b |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1664-462X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Plant Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-829cbafacb6b40ab96bb0c350aa9d74b2025-08-20T03:13:36ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Plant Science1664-462X2025-07-011610.3389/fpls.2025.15990331599033Floral symmetry and scaling relationships between tepal mass and area in the daylily (Hemerocallis fulva)Hongyu Yan0Peijian Shi1Weihao Yao2Feixue Jiang3Long Chen4Linli Deng5Meng Lian6Yi Heng7Karl J. Niklas8School of Integrated Circuits, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Chongqing, ChinaBamboo Research Institute, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, ChinaBamboo Research Institute, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, ChinaBamboo Research Institute, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, ChinaBamboo Research Institute, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, ChinaBamboo Research Institute, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, ChinaBamboo Research Institute, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, ChinaCollege of Landscape Architecture, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, ChinaSchool of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United StatesFloral symmetry plays an important role in the evolution and ecology of flowering plants, yet quantifying the symmetry of the perianth remains challenging. Here, we quantify the floral symmetry of the daylily (Hemerocallis fulva) with a focus on tepal mass, area, and shape. H. fulva was selected for this study because its perianth exhibits weak bilateral symmetry, providing a unique opportunity to investigate floral forms that are transitional between radial and bilateral symmetry. Toward this end, the tepal fresh mass (FM), dry mass (DM), tepal area (A), and the ratio of tepal width to length (W/L) of 136 flowers of H. fulva were quantified. In addition, the tepal roundness index (RI) and the standardized index for bilateral asymmetry (SI) were calculated. For the purpose of comparison, the FM, DM, and A of 202 leaves were measured and calculated. Reduced major axis regression protocols were then used to fit the scaling relationships of mass vs. area for tepals and leaves. With the exception of W/L, there were no significant differences in the means of FM, DM, A, RI, and ln(SI) between any two of the three inner whorl tepals or between any two of the three outer whorl tepals. However, there were significant differences in the means of these six measures between inner and outer whorls of tepals. The 95% confidence intervals of the scaling exponents of FM vs. A and DM vs. A of the outer whorl included unity. In contrast, the lower bounds of the 95% confidence intervals of the scaling exponents of FM vs. A and DM vs. A of the inner whorl and leaves of H. fulva exceeded unity. Different metrics for size (i.e., tepal mass vs. area) and shape (i.e., the degree of deviation from a standard circle and the degree of bilateral symmetry) yield different assessments of H. fulva perianth morphometrics (i.e. radial vs. bilateral symmetry), thereby highlighting the challenge of assessing symmetry. The scaling relationships of perianth parts and leaves are statistically congruent and consistent with the phenomenon called “diminishing returns” and the classical hypothesis of serial homology.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2025.1599033/fullbilateral symmetrydiminishing returnsplant serialpollination organsradial symmetrytepals |
| spellingShingle | Hongyu Yan Peijian Shi Weihao Yao Feixue Jiang Long Chen Linli Deng Meng Lian Yi Heng Karl J. Niklas Floral symmetry and scaling relationships between tepal mass and area in the daylily (Hemerocallis fulva) Frontiers in Plant Science bilateral symmetry diminishing returns plant serial pollination organs radial symmetry tepals |
| title | Floral symmetry and scaling relationships between tepal mass and area in the daylily (Hemerocallis fulva) |
| title_full | Floral symmetry and scaling relationships between tepal mass and area in the daylily (Hemerocallis fulva) |
| title_fullStr | Floral symmetry and scaling relationships between tepal mass and area in the daylily (Hemerocallis fulva) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Floral symmetry and scaling relationships between tepal mass and area in the daylily (Hemerocallis fulva) |
| title_short | Floral symmetry and scaling relationships between tepal mass and area in the daylily (Hemerocallis fulva) |
| title_sort | floral symmetry and scaling relationships between tepal mass and area in the daylily hemerocallis fulva |
| topic | bilateral symmetry diminishing returns plant serial pollination organs radial symmetry tepals |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2025.1599033/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT hongyuyan floralsymmetryandscalingrelationshipsbetweentepalmassandareainthedaylilyhemerocallisfulva AT peijianshi floralsymmetryandscalingrelationshipsbetweentepalmassandareainthedaylilyhemerocallisfulva AT weihaoyao floralsymmetryandscalingrelationshipsbetweentepalmassandareainthedaylilyhemerocallisfulva AT feixuejiang floralsymmetryandscalingrelationshipsbetweentepalmassandareainthedaylilyhemerocallisfulva AT longchen floralsymmetryandscalingrelationshipsbetweentepalmassandareainthedaylilyhemerocallisfulva AT linlideng floralsymmetryandscalingrelationshipsbetweentepalmassandareainthedaylilyhemerocallisfulva AT menglian floralsymmetryandscalingrelationshipsbetweentepalmassandareainthedaylilyhemerocallisfulva AT yiheng floralsymmetryandscalingrelationshipsbetweentepalmassandareainthedaylilyhemerocallisfulva AT karljniklas floralsymmetryandscalingrelationshipsbetweentepalmassandareainthedaylilyhemerocallisfulva |