Plant Reproduction
Biology: Edexcel IGCSE, topic 4.1.4
Plant Reproduction
Plants can reproduce sexually or asexually. Asexual reproduction happens naturally in some plants, but it can also be done artificially.
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.
Test yourself on Plant Reproduction
Plant Asexual Reproduction
Why do runners grow a certain distance away from the parent plant before sprouting a new plant?