North American silene trait medians

Combinations of correlated floral traits have arisen repeatedly across angiosperms through convergent evolution in response to pollinator selection to optimize reproduction. While some plant groups exhibit very distinct combinations of traits adapted to specific pollinators (so-called pollination syndromes), others do not. Determining how floral traits diverge across clades and whether floral traits show predictable correlations in diverse groups of flowering plants is key to determining the extent to which pollinator-mediated selection drives diversification. The North American Silene section Physolychnis is an ideal group to investigate patterns of floral evolution because it is characterized by the evolution of novel red floral color, extensive floral morphological variation, polyploidy, and exposure to a novel group of pollinators (hummingbirds). We test for correlated patterns of trait evolution that would be consistent with convergent responses to selection in the key floral trait...