Breeding system
To identify the breeding system of H. mutabilis , 160 flowers from 30 individual plants experienced four pollination treatments in September 2023. Flowers were randomly chosen from different plants to reduce the possible effect of resource reallocation on the fruit set, and were enclosed with fine-mesh polyester bags to exclude any visitors before the artificial treatments. To test for potential autogamy, 40 flowers were caged to exclude any insects. In addition, 40 flowers were hand-pollinated with self-pollen grains from flowers of the same individual, and another 40 flowers were hand-pollinated with outcross pollen grains from multiple flowers of other individuals to test for any differences in seed production between selfing and outcrossing. The remaining 40 flowers without any treatment were exposed to open pollination as a natural control. Four weeks later, the fruits produced by these flowers were harvested, and the seeds and undeveloped ovules in each fruit were counted.