NOTE 21P: We often talk of the optimal allocation “from the point of view” of a gene. Strictly speaking, we should consider whether an allele that has some effect on resource allocation would increase in the population. What matters is where the allele has its effect: on how the parent plant allocates resources or on how an individual embryo can influence the amount of resource that it gets. This problem shows how alleles that are expressed in different contexts will cause different resource allocations to evolve. The outcome therefore depends on what kind of alleles can influence allocation. In this example, it is most likely to be alleles expressed in the mother.