To test the possibility of compensatory translocation of photosynthate to vegetative reproduction responding to the failure of sexual production, movement of photosynthate was compared between intact and flower removed plants of a monocarpic understory herb, Cardiocrinum cordatum using stable carbon isotope, ¹³C.

Although flower removal accelerated the amount of photosynthate translocated to bulbs, the increment was much smaller than the amount of photosynthate used for flower production.

Sink strength of inflorescences was considerably high in comparison with that of bulbs probably due to the different schedules of formation and development. Flowering stem acted as a storage organ, and large amount of photosynthate was translocated to upper stem even when all flowers were removed.

These results suggest compensatory allocation of reproductive effort for asexual reproduction with sexual reproduction failure is not always true. It may depend on the schedule of resource investment in individual reproductive functions and their relative sink strength.