Phenological monitoring
In the natural population, 30 plants were monitored weekly. In
48 visits to the plants throughout the year, the presence of open
flowers (flowering) and mature fruits (fruiting) was recorded. Thenumbers offlowers and fruits produced per inflorescence were estimated at 60 inflorescences (N = 20 in the dry and N = 40 in the rainy
season).
Flowering and fruiting intensity was calculated from the average monthly production of flowers and fruits per plant (Opleret al., 1980). To test the seasonal distribution of these phenological phases, a circular distribution analysis of monthly intensity
indices was performed with the Rayleigh Z-test (Zar, 1996). The
relationship between the intensity of phenophases with the variables rainfall, temperature and photoperiod was also evaluated.