Dependent fruitheads

[McClements, Jim]

AEG'rs

Would someone (Guy?) please talk about the significance of whether a healthy,
enlarging seedhead is upright, upside-down, or at a 90 degree angle to the
vertical.

The subject has come up on another list (Alpine-L), and while I've responded,
I really didn't know what to say.

Are there certain species that do this consistently? Both A. candidissimum
seedheads here this year have been upside down, starting almost immediately
after pollination. A brown-spathed  consanguineum has a large seedhead
sticking straight out parallel to the ground, again starting almost
immediately.

Is this characteristic being recognized as a factor in keying out species?

Jim McClements