Amphicarpy is a reproductive strategy that occurs with 13 plant families,[1][2] expressed mostly in species with an annual life cycle.
Seeds from the underground flowers have low genetic variability (due to their selfing), tend to be larger, and may germinate from within the tissues of the flower, so ensuring that the annual can remain at the site that was suitable to it in the preceding year.
Seeds from aerial flowers usually have greater genetic variability, tend to be smaller, and may be spread further.
[2] In Israel, a country that harbors many disturbed habitats, with eight out of a total flora of twenty five hundred species, a much higher percentage of 0.32% is amphicarpic.
[12] Species that use amphicarpy include Catananche lutea, Gymnarrhena micrantha and Polygala lewtonii.