Variation in Flowering Parameters Within and Among Five Species of Australian Alpine Ranunculus

Abstract

The flowering phenology of the perennial herbs Ranunculus muelleri, R. dissectifolius, R. granticola, R. millanii and R. niphophilus were characterised at two sites over two flowering seasons in the Kosciusko alpine region of Australia. The date a plant started flowering (mean values for species ranged from 8 November to 14 December), the duration of flowering (mean values for species ranged from 14.3 days to 35.1 days), asynchrony of flower production (mean values ranged from 1.38 to 10.4 days), asynchrony of first day of flowering (mean values ranged from 4.61 to 8.13), intraspecific synchrony (mean values ranged from 0.53 to 0.73, where a value of 1 equals perfect synchrony), and number of flowers (mean values ranged from 1.9 to 10.7) all differed between sites and flowering seasons within species, and among the five species. Thus, while temporal and spatial variation in flowering parameters within species occurred, it did not mask variation among species, with each of the five species of Ranunculus having a distinct flowering pattern.