Trait specialization facilitates autonomous selfing ability in a mixed‐mating plant

We show pollen-collecting hairs, a trait thought to have evolved to promote outcrossing, is associated with within-flower selfing ability. Through developmental changes in length, pollen-collecting hairs appear to be a plastic phenotype that is both associated with autonomous selfing and with outcrossing in C. americana. This provides support for trait specialization rather than trade-offs, and for the 'best of both worlds' hypothesis of mixed mating-system evolution.