Fig 1 -

Location of the study site (A) and the populations (B). C-D: View of populations. C. The distant view of Choglamsar (CV) population (arrows) growing in riverine delta of river Indus. D. Part of population growing at hill slope of Sindhu Darshan (SD) as seen during flowering. Male and female patches are marked.</p

Representative agarose gel profiles of SCAR marker amplification with seedlings DNA of the three populations.

The seedling DNA with amplification (product size:~329bp) was counted as male while without amplification was marked as female in study. (TIF)</p

S2 Fig -

A-B: PCA for populations and traits of sexes A. Male B. Female; C-D: PCA for populations and edaphic factors C. Male D. Female. (JPG)</p

Bar graphs showing comparison of vegetative and reproductive traits studied in different populations and between sexes.

A. Height, B. Circumference, C. Number of sub-branches, D. Number of thorns, E. Dry-weight leaf, F. Leaf area, G. Specific leaf area, H. Flower production, I. Dry-weight flower, J. Fruit production, K. Fresh weight fruit, and L. Dry-weight fruit. The letters in lower case over the bars, indicate the significant differences in trait between sexes (male, female and polygamomonoecious [PGM] separately) and between populations as obtained after post-hoc Tukey’s test.</p

Principal component analysis for the traits of male, female and polygamomonoecious (PGM) plants along with the investigated abiotic factors.

A. Traits and sexes. The results are same as calculated by Sexual Dimorphism Index. B. Edaphic factors and sexes. The plot clearly demonstrates that female rhizosphere soil possesses more moisture content. C. Traits, edaphic factors and sexes. The plots clearly depict the incidence of sexual dimorphism in H. rhamnoides and significantly biased traits to each sex (see vectors). Notably, the female sex is significantly co-variable with moisture content of soil. (NSB: number of sub-branches, DWB: Dry-weight branch, FWL: Fresh-weight leaf, DWL: Dry-weight leaf, LA: Leaf-area, SLA: Specific leaf-area; Reproductive Traits: NOI: number of Inflorescence, DWF: Dry-weight flower. SM: Soil moisture, EC: Electrical conductivity, SC: Soil Carbon, SN: Soil Nitrogen). For separate PCA plots between populations, traits and sexes also see S2 Fig.</p

Summary of the reproductive dry-weight and vegetative dry-weight (g) of male and female plants in each population with results of multivariate analysis.

In each sex, resource allocation (vegetative and reproductive) at flowering (RAfl), and fruiting (RAfr) can be calculated as the ratio of reproductive dry-weight to vegetative dry-weight.</p

Pearson correlation plot of male and female seedlings with their height and weight.

A positive correlation could be observed for male sex with height and weight. (JPG)</p

Fig 2 -

The male, female, and polygamomonoecious (PGM) plants of Seabuckthorn at the time of flowering (A-C) and fruiting (D-F). A. Male inflorescences. B. Female inflorescences. Arrow indicates the protruded stigma of a female flower. C. Inflorescences borne on a PGM plant with a female flower (arrow), and a male flower (arrowhead). D. Canopy of a male plant during August-September with leaves. E. Part of a canopy of female plant with numerous infructescences and fruits. F. PGM plant with fruits. Scale bars: A-C, E-F = 1 cm.</p

S4 Fig -

Box plots depicting comparison of soil factors between male (white) female (black) along with the seasons flowering and fruiting. (JPG)</p

Sexual dimorphism and its indices for vegetative and reproductive traits in <i>Hippophae rhamnoides</i>.

The sexual dimorphism index for each trait is variable from 0 and significant between male and female plants. Asterisks indicate the significance (*P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; and ***P < 0.001). Vegetative traits: Height, Circumference, NSB: number of sub-branches, Thorns, DWB: Dry-weight branch, FWL: Fresh -weight leaf, DWL: Dry-weight leaf, LA: Leaf-area, SLA: Specific leaf-area; Reproductive Traits: NOI: number of Inflorescence, DWF: Dry-weight flower.</p