Dichogamy

Dichogamy

With the term dichogamy, in biology, we mean the phenomenon whereby in hermaphroditic individuals (animals or plants) the male and female reproductive cells do not mature at the same time, but in subsequent times, in order to favor cross-fertilization and prevent self-fertilization or autogamy.
The dichogamy is therefore a cross-fertilization between distinct hermaphrodite individuals, which depends on the diversified maturation over time, of the female and male reproductive organs of the hermaphrodite flowers.
Dichogamy is, therefore, one of the causes that prevent autogamy and is divided into:
– Proterandria if the male organ matures earlier than the female one, as in many Apiaceae and Campanulaceae;
– Proterogyny in the opposite case, as in Parietaria officinalis.