4.1.4

Plant Reproduction

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Plant Reproduction

Plants can reproduce sexually or asexually. Asexual reproduction happens naturally in some plants, but it can also be done artificially.

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Artificial asexual reproduction

  • Good parent plants are used by gardeners as a source of cuttings.
  • To take a cutting, a branch is cut off from the parent plant. Hormones are then used to encourage the roots to grow and the cutting is then planted.
  • Planting cuttings produces clones of the parent plant.
  • This allows a large number of plants with favourable characteristics to be produced quickly and cheaply.
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Natural asexual reproduction

  • Some plants such as grasses, strawberries and potatoes, produce clones of themselves using runners.
  • Runners are roots that branch off from the roots of the parent plant and grow along the surface of the soil. Once the runner has grown a certain distance away from the parent plant, it sprouts a whole new individual.

Jump to other topics

1The Nature & Variety of Living Organisms

2Structure & Functions in Living Organisms

3Organism Functions

3.1Respiration

3.2Gas Exchange

3.3Transport

3.4Excretion

3.5Coordination & Response

4Reproduction & Inheritance

5Ecology

6Biological Resources

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