Question

Why plants like viola reproduce through both chasmogamous as well as cleistogamous flower if it reproduce only through one type?

Answer 1

The Cleistogamous flowers help in reproduction with minimal energy and resource expenditure. It also maximises the chance of reproduction, which is an important factor where the agents of pollination are scarce. On the other hand Chasmogamous flowers provide variablity, hybrid vigour and generate better genotypes through recombination. Both of these strategies are useful in different environment. In adverse (less pollinators, energy stress) cleistogamy would be favourable, and in other cases where no energy stress prevails, chsmogamy is advantageous