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• Premise of the study: The processes maintaining flower color polymorphisms have long been of evolutionary interest. Mechanistic explanations include selection through pollinators, antagonists, local environments, drift, and pleiotropic effects. We examined the maintenance of inflorescence color polymorphisms in the genus Protea (Proteaceae) of South Africa, in which ∼40% of species contain different color morphs.

• Methods: We studied 10 populations of four bird‐pollinated Protea species and compared adult performance, floral and leaf morphology, vegetative pigmentation, germination, and seedling survival between co‐occurring pink and white morphs. We also tested for differences in pollination success and pre‐dispersal seed predation.

• Key results: White morphs produced seeds 10% heavier and 3.5 times more likely to germinate, which all else being equal, should fuel positive selection on white. In …