Discussion
Plants of Abutilon theophrasti can germinate over a wide range of
period in growth seasons. Germination timing can influence the strength
and direction of selection on plant performance and response in growth
and reproductive traits later in the life cycle (Donohue et al., 2005;
Mercer et al., 2011; Weinig, 2000). Germinating earlier generally
results in higher fecundity, but selection on survival may favour early,
intermediate, or late germination (Donohue et al., 2010; Kalisz, 1986;
Verdu´ & Traveset, 2005), and thereby selection on germination timing
may be conflicting (Akiyama & Ă…gren, 2014). It suggested there is an
optimal germination time for plants (Gremer et al., 2020; ten Brink et
al., 2020). This was supported by our results that the optimal
germination time for A. theophrasti was late spring, earlier or
later germination had adverse effects on plant performance to different
extents. In spite of this, individuals with advanced or delayed
germination can still adopt different strategies in coping with
subsequent environmental conditions via plasticity in biomass allocation
and morphological traits.