Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Flowering plants, the dominant plant group, [9]: 168 reproduce both by sexual and asexual means. Their distinguishing feature is that their reproductive organs are contained in flowers . Sexual reproduction in flowering plants involves the production of separate male and female gametophytes that produce gametes .
Close-up of a Schlumbergera flower, showing part of the gynoecium (specifically the stigma and part of the style) and the stamens that surround it. Plant reproductive morphology is the study of the physical form and structure (the morphology) of those parts of plants directly or indirectly concerned with sexual reproduction.
Many fungi and plants reproduce asexually. Some plants have specialized structures for reproduction via fragmentation, such as gemmae in mosses and liverworts . Most lichens , which are a symbiotic union of a fungus and photosynthetic algae or cyanobacteria , reproduce through fragmentation to ensure that new individuals contain both symbionts.
In asexual reproduction, an organism can reproduce without the involvement of another organism. Asexual reproduction is not limited to single-celled organisms. The cloning of an organism is a form of asexual reproduction. By asexual reproduction, an organism creates a genetically similar or identical copy of itself.
Although most plants normally reproduce sexually, many can reproduce vegetatively, or can be induced to do so via hormonal treatments. This is because meristematic cells capable of cellular differentiation are present in many plant tissues. Vegetative propagation is usually considered a cloning method. [8]
Obligate parthenogenesis is the process in which organisms exclusively reproduce through asexual means. [39] Many species have transitioned to obligate parthenogenesis over evolutionary time. Well documented transitions to obligate parthenogenesis have been found in numerous metazoan taxa, albeit through highly diverse mechanisms.
The improvement of asexually propagated plants through induced mutations has distinct advantages and limitations. Any vegetative propagule can be treated with mutagens and even a single desirable mutant or a part of a mutated propagule (chimera) can be multiplied as an improved type of the original variety.
A flower, also known as a bloom or blossom, [1] is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae).Flowers consist of a combination of vegetative organs – sepals that enclose and protect the developing flower.