FLOWERING PHENOLOGY - AN EXAMPLE OF RELAXATION OF NATURAL-SELECTION

Flowering phenology has normally been viewed as fundamental to a plant species' reproductive ecology. Researchers in the field have emphasized the adaptive importance of flowering at a particular time relative to other individuals in the population. or other species in the community. An alternative view, however, is that flowering phenology is a trait that may not be under strong selection, and this may have allowed some variation to appear in populations by chance.