Describing plants that reproduce through self-pollination or pollination between nearby flowers on the same plant, rather than cross-pollination with distant plants.
From Greek 'geiton' (neighbor) + 'gamos' (marriage/union). The term was coined in the 19th century to describe a specific reproductive strategy that was neither true self-pollination nor true cross-pollination.
Plants invented social distancing millions of years ago—geitonogamous flowers essentially marry their neighbors, which is actually a risky evolutionary strategy because it reduces genetic diversity compared to true cross-pollination.
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