| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Sexual system | Description |
|---|
| Androdioecy | males and hermaphrodites coexist in a population.[{{Cite book| vauthors = Pontarotti P |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R3-3k5yoRhoC&q=Androdioecy&pg=PA36|title=Evolutionary Biology – Concepts, Biodiversity, Macroevolution and Genome Evolution|date=2011-07-20|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-3-642-20763-1|pages=36|language=en}}] |
| Andromonoecy | rare sexual system in angiosperms, in which a plant has both male and hermaphroditic flowers.[{{cite journal | vauthors = Casimiro-Soriguer R, Herrera J, Talavera S | title = Andromonoecy in an Old World Papilionoid legume, Erophaca baetica | journal = Plant Biology | volume = 15 | issue = 2 | pages = 353–9 | date = March 2013 | pmid = 22823201 | doi = 10.1111/j.1438-8677.2012.00648.x | bibcode = 2013PlBio..15..353C }}] It has been a subject of interest regarding the mechanism of sex expression.[{{Cite book| vauthors = Pugnaire F, Valladares F |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fqc-_Zv3jIMC&q=Andromonoecious&pg=PA524|title=Functional Plant Ecology|date=2007-06-20|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1-4200-0762-6|pages=524|language=en}}] |
| Dichogamy | an individual plant produces either exclusively male or exclusively female flowers at different points in time.[{{Cite journal |last1=Lloyd |first1=David G. |last2=Webb |first2=C. J. |date=1986-07-01 |title=The avoidance of interference between the presentation of pollen and stigmas in angiosperms I. Dichogamy |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0028825X.1986.10409725 |journal=New Zealand Journal of Botany |language=en |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=135–162 |doi=10.1080/0028825X.1986.10409725 |bibcode=1986NZJB...24..135L |issn=0028-825X|url-access=subscription }}] It is thought the temporal separation of producing male and female flowers occurs to prevent self-fertilization,[{{Cite journal |last=Renner |first=Susanne S. |date=2014-10-01 |title=The relative and absolute frequencies of angiosperm sexual systems: Dioecy, monoecy, gynodioecy, and an updated online database |journal=American Journal of Botany |language=en |volume=101 |issue=10 |pages=1588–1596 |doi=10.3732/ajb.1400196|pmid=25326608 |doi-access=free }}] however this is debatable as dichogamy occurs in similar frequency among species which are self-compatible and self-incompatible.[{{Cite journal |last=Bertin |first=Robert I. |title=Incidence of Monoecy and Dichogamy in Relation to Self-Fertilization in Angiosperms |date=1993-05-01 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.1537-2197.1993.tb13840.x |journal=American Journal of Botany |language=en |volume=80 |issue=5 |pages=557–560 |doi=10.1002/j.1537-2197.1993.tb13840.x|pmid=30139145 |url-access=subscription }}] |
| Dioicy | one of the main sexual systems in bryophytes.[{{Cite book| vauthors = Ramawat KG, Merillon JM, Shivanna KR |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=qXvSBQAAQBAJ&q=Sexual+systems+in+bryophytes&pg=PA62|title=Reproductive Biology of Plants|date=2016-04-19|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1-4822-0133-8|pages=62|language=en}}] In dioicy male and female sex organs are on separate gametophytes.[{{cite journal | vauthors = Villarreal JC, Renner SS | title = Correlates of monoicy and dioicy in hornworts, the apparent sister group to vascular plants | journal = BMC Evolutionary Biology | volume = 13 | issue = 1 | pages = 239 | date = November 2013 | pmid = 24180692 | pmc = 4228369 | doi = 10.1186/1471-2148-13-239 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2013BMCEE..13..239V }}] |
| Dioecy | a species has distinct individual organisms that are either male or female, i.e., they produce only male or only female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in plants). |
| Gonochorism | individuals are either male or female.[{{cite book | vauthors = King RC, Stansfield WD, Mulligan PK | chapter = Gonochorism|date=2007| chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195307610.001.0001/acref-9780195307610-e-2626|title = A Dictionary of Genetics|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195307610.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-530761-0|access-date=2021-07-28}}]
The term "gonochorism" is usually applied to animals while "dioecy" is applied to plants.[{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_r4OCAAAQBAJ&q=gonochorism+usually+applied+to+animals|title=Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Biology|date=2016-04-14|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-12-800426-5|volume=2|pages=212|language=en}}] Gonochorism is the most common sexual system in animals, occurring in 95% of animal species.[{{cite journal | vauthors = Leonard JL | title = Williams' paradox and the role of phenotypic plasticity in sexual systems | journal = Integrative and Comparative Biology | volume = 53 | issue = 4 | pages = 671–88 | date = October 2013 | pmid = 23970358 | doi = 10.1093/icb/ict088 | doi-access = free }}] |
| Gynodioecy | females and hermaphrodites coexist in the same population.[{{Cite book| vauthors = Fusco G, Minelli A |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AKGsDwAAQBAJ&q=Gynodioecy+the+biology+of+reproduction|title=The Biology of Reproduction|date=2019-10-10|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-49985-9|pages=132–133|language=en}}] |
| Gynomonoecy | defined as the presence of both female and hermaphrodite flowers on the same individual of a plant species.[{{cite book | vauthors = Allaby M | chapter = Gynomonoecious |date=2006 | chapter-url = https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198608912.001.0001/acref-9780198608912-e-3105|title = A Dictionary of Plant Sciences |publisher=Oxford University Press | doi=10.1093/acref/9780198608912.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-860891-2 }}] It is prevalent in Asteraceae but is poorly understood.[{{Cite book| vauthors = Martínez-Gómez P |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pcahDwAAQBAJ&q=Gynomonoecy&pg=PA442|title=Plant Genetics and Molecular Breeding|date=2019-07-11|publisher=MDPI|isbn=978-3-03921-175-3|pages=442|language=en}}] |
| {{anchor|Gynodioecy-Gynomonoecy}} Gynodioecy-Gynomonoecy | a sexual system for plants when female, hermaphrodite, and gynomonoecious plants coexist in the same population.[{{Cite book|last1=Lüttge|first1=Ulrich|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3mNBDAAAQBAJ&dq=trimonoecy+difference+from+trioecy&pg=PA360|title=Progress in Botany 77|last2=Cánovas|first2=Francisco M.|last3=Matyssek|first3=Rainer|date=2016-05-27|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-319-25688-7|language=en}}]{{Rp|page=360}} |
| Monoicy | one of the main sexual systems in bryophytes. |
| Monoecy | a sexual system in which male and female flowers are present on the same plant. It is common in angiosperms,[{{Cite book| vauthors = Bahadur B, Sujatha M, Carels N |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TAQMI-ikrvYC&q=monoecy+sexual+system&pg=PA27|title=Jatropha, Challenges for a New Energy Crop: Volume 2: Genetic Improvement and Biotechnology|date=2012-12-14|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1-4614-4915-7|pages=27–28|language=en}}] and occurs in 10% of all plant species.[{{Cite book| vauthors = Willmer P |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1_eWTM2_kfcC&q=monoecy+10%25&pg=PA85|title=Pollination and Floral Ecology|date=2011-07-05|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-3894-3|pages=85|language=en}}]{{dubious|reason=Monoecy refers to seed plants.Ssource only deals with seed plants. Not all plants are seed plants|date=August 2021}} |
| Sequential hermaphroditism | individuals start their adult lives as one sex, and change to the other sex at a later age. |
| Sequential monoecy | a confusing sexual system,[{{Cite book|last1=Putz|first1=Francis E.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D_w8AAAAIAAJ&q=sequential+monoecy&pg=PA411|title=The Biology of Vines|last2=Mooney|first2=Harold A.|date=1991|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-39250-1|pages=411|language=en}}] in which the combination of male, female, and hermaphrodite flowers presented changes over time.[{{Cite journal |last1=Flores-Rentería |first1=Lluvia |last2=Molina-Freaner |first2=Francisco |last3=Whipple |first3=Amy V. |last4=Gehring |first4=Catherine A. |last5=Domínguez |first5=C. A. |date=2013-03-01 |title=Sexual stability in the nearly dioecious Pinus johannis (Pinaceae) |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.3732/ajb.1200068 |journal=American Journal of Botany |language=en |volume=100 |issue=3 |pages=602–612 |doi=10.3732/ajb.1200068 |pmid=23445824 |issn=0002-9122|url-access=subscription }}] For example, some conifers produce exclusively either male or female cones when young, then both when older.[{{Cite journal |last=Kang |first=Hyesoon |date=2007-04-01 |title=Changes in gender expression in korean populations ofPinus densiflora over a five-year period |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03030628 |journal=Journal of Plant Biology |language=en |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=181–189 |doi=10.1007/BF03030628 |bibcode=2007JPBio..50..181K |s2cid=19890328 |issn=1867-0725|url-access=subscription }}] Sequential monoecy can be difficult to differentiate from dioecy.[{{Cite book|last1=Greenwood|first1=Paul J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nQw5AAAAIAAJ&q=sequential+monoecy&pg=PA240|title=Evolution: Essays in Honour of John Maynard Smith|last2=Greenwood|first2=Greenwood, Paul John|last3=Harvey|first3=Paul H.|last4=Harvey|first4=Reader in Biology Department of Zoology Paul H.|last5=Slatkin|first5=Montgomery|last6=Slatkin|first6=Professor of Integrative Biology Montgomery|last7=Cambridge|first7=University of|date=1985-07-11|publisher=CUP Archive|isbn=978-0-521-25734-3|pages=240|language=en}}] Several alternative terms may be used in reference to sexual systems involving temporal changes to sex presentation of a plant species (e.g. dichogamy, sequential hermaphroditism, sex change, paradioecy, diphasy).[{{Cite book |last=Windsor |first=Jon and Lesley Lovett-Doust Professor of Biology the University of |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yjv1woP0QtYC&dq=diphasy&pg=PA139 |title=Plant Reproductive Ecology : Patterns and Strategies: Patterns and Strategies |date=1988-07-07 |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |isbn=978-0-19-802192-6 |language=en}}] |
| Simultaneous hermaphroditism | an individual can produce both gamete types in the same breeding season.{{Sfn|Leonard|2019|p=14}} Simultaneous hermaphroditism is one of the most common sexual systems in animals (though far less common than gonochorism) and is one of the most stable.[{{Cite book| vauthors = Leonard J, Cordoba-Aguilar A |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wmlnDAAAQBAJ&q=simultaneous+hermaphroditism+sexual+system|title=The Evolution of Primary Sexual Characters in Animals|date=2010-07-19|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA|isbn=978-0-19-532555-3|pages=20|language=en}}] |
| Synoecy | all individuals in a population of flowering plants bear solely hermaphrodite flowers.[{{Cite book |last=Beentje |first=Henk |year=2016 |title=The Kew Plant Glossary |edition=second |location=Richmond, Surrey |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |isbn=978-1-84246-604-9 }}] |
| Trioecy | males, females, and hermaphrodites exist in the same population.[{{Cite journal| vauthors = Oyarzún PA, Nuñez JJ, Toro JE, Gardner J |date=2020|title=Trioecy in the Marine Mussel Semimytilus algosus (Mollusca, Bivalvia): Stable Sex Ratios Across 22 Degrees of a Latitudinal Gradient|journal=Frontiers in Marine Science|volume=7|language=English|doi=10.3389/fmars.2020.00348|issn=2296-7745|doi-access=free}}] It is present in both plants and animals but is always extremely rare.{{Sfn|Leonard|2019|p=23}} Trioecy occurs in about 3.6% of flowering plants.[{{cite journal | vauthors = Albert B, Morand-Prieur MÉ, Brachet S, Gouyon PH, Frascaria-Lacoste N, Raquin C | title = Sex expression and reproductive biology in a tree species, Fraxinus excelsior L | journal = Comptes Rendus Biologies | volume = 336 | issue = 10 | pages = 479–85 | date = October 2013 | pmid = 24246889 | doi = 10.1016/j.crvi.2013.08.004 | url = https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/biologies/articles/10.1016/j.crvi.2013.08.004/ | url-access = subscription }}] Trioecy may infrequently be referred to as tridioecy.[{{Cite journal |last1=Heikrujam |first1=Monika |last2=Sharma |first2=Kuldeep |last3=Prasad |first3=Manoj |last4=Agrawal |first4=Veena |date=2015-01-01 |title=Review on different mechanisms of sex determination and sex-linked molecular markers in dioecious crops: a current update |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-014-1293-z |journal=Euphytica |language=en |volume=201 |issue=2 |pages=161–194 |doi=10.1007/s10681-014-1293-z |s2cid=254468003 |issn=1573-5060|url-access=subscription }}] |
| Trimonoecy | (also called androgynomonoecy) is when male, female, and hermaphrodite flowers are present on the same plant.[{{Cite book| vauthors = Atwell BJ, Kriedemann PE, Turnbull CG |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=chWs4ewSzpEC&q=trimonoecy&pg=PT44|title=Plants in Action: Adaptation in Nature, Performance in Cultivation | date=1999|publisher=Macmillan Education AU|isbn=978-0-7329-4439-1|pages=244 }}] Triomonoecy is rare.[{{Cite journal| vauthors = Cardoso-Gustavson P, Demarco D, Carmello-Guerreiro SM |date=2011-08-06|title=Evidence of trimonoecy in Phyllanthaceae: Phyllanthus acidus |journal=Plant Systematics and Evolution|language=en|volume=296|issue=3|pages=283–286|doi=10.1007/s00606-011-0494-3|bibcode=2011PSyEv.296..283C |s2cid=13226982|issn=1615-6110}}] |
