Abstract: The widely‐held view that the frequency of self‐compatibility increases at higher elevations has been questioned for communities of the southern Andes. The study of pollination biology of obligate outcrossers with wide altitudinal range may provide clues on how plants can remain reproductively successful in increasingly hostile environments without resorting to selfing. I studied the phenology, pollinator assemblages, breeding system and maternal success of the perennial entomophile outcrosser, Discaria nana, across a 1200‐m elevation span in the Andes of Mendoza and Neuquén, Argentina (34° ‐ 37°S). D. nana behaved as self‐incompatible throughout the studied gradient. At the higher site proportionally fewer flowers were pollinated, stigmatic loads were smaller and number of visitor species was lower than at low altitude; however, natural fruit set was 3.6 times higher and seed set 3.3 times higher. As a non‐exclusive explanation, it is proposed that increased maternal success reflected better pollination quality at the higher site, to which several factors seemed to contribute. At higher altitude D. nana a) exhibited mutualisms with a high proportion of the available pol
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