Plant reproduction is the production of new [offspring] in plants, which can be accomplished by sexual

or asexual reproduction. Sexual reproduction produces offspring by the fusion of gametes, resulting in offspring
genetically different from the parent or parents. Asexual reproduction produces new individuals without the
fusion of gametes, genetically identical to the parent plants and each other, except when mutations occur.
In seed plants, the offspring can be packaged in a protective seed, which is used as an agent of dispersal.
Types of Plant Reproduction:
1. Asexual:
a. Fragmentation in multicellular organisms is a form of asexual reproduction in which an organism is
split into fragments. Each of these fragments develop into matured, fully grown individuals that are
identical to their parents.
The splitting may or may not be intentional – it may or may not occur due to man-made or
natural damage by the environment or predators. This kind of organism may develop specific
organs or zones that may be shed or easily broken off. If the splitting occurs without the prior
preparation of the organism, both fragments must be able to regenerate the complete organism
for it to function as reproduction.
Fragmentation, also known as splitting, as a method of reproduction is seen in many organisms
such as filamentous cyanobacteria, molds, lichens, many plants, and animals such
as sponges, acoel flatworms, some annelid worms and sea stars

b. Spore formation is a method of asexual reproduction which is found in non flowering plants such
as fungi (Rhizopus) and bacteria. In this method of reproduction, the parent plant produces
hundreds of tiny spores which can grow into new plants. The spores are the microscopic, tough and
resistant bodies which are round in shape and can grow into a new plant under suitable
conditions. We shall now discuss the formation of new plants by spores by taking the example of
fungi called as bread mould or Rhizopus.

c. Budding may be defined as the process in which a small part of the body of the parent organism
grows out as a small projection called ‘bud’ which when detaches becomes a new organism.

2. SEXUAL:

a. Pollination is the transfer of pollen from a male part of a plant to a female part of a plant, later
enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind.[1] Pollinating
agents are animals such as insects, birds, and bats; water; wind; and even plants themselves,
when self-pollination occurs within a closed flower. Pollination often occurs within a species. When
pollination occurs between species it can produce hybrid offspring in nature and in plant
breeding work.

b. Fertilization also known as generative fertilisation, is the fusion of gametes to initiate the
development of a new individual organism or offspring.[3] This cycle of fertilisation and development
of new individuals is called sexual reproduction. During double
fertilisation in angiosperms the haploid male gamete combines with two haploid polar nuclei to form
a triploid primary endosperm nucleus by the process of vegetative fertilisation.
 c. Seed formation begins with the combination of a male and female gamete: a process known as
fertilization. Fertilization, or syngamy, can occur when both male and female gametophytes are
fully mature. This usually occurs in a dual fusion process known as double fertilization.When the
pollen grain lands on the stigma, it germinates by sending out a pollen tube, which grows down
the style, through the micropyle and into the embryo sac, with the tube nucleus closely following
the tube apex downward. The tube nucleus soon degenerates, but the two pollen sperm cells
enter the embryo sac, one fusing with the diploid (2N) polar nucleus to form a triploid (3N)
endosperm nucleus and the other fusing with the egg cell to form a diploid (2N) zygote, or
fertilized egg.

d. Seed dispersal is the movement, spread or transport of seeds away from the parent plant. Plants
have very limited mobility and consequently rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport
their propagules, including both abiotic vectors such as the wind and living (biotic) vectors like birds.
Seeds can be dispersed away from the parent plant individually or collectively, as well as dispersed
in both space and time. The patterns of seed dispersal are determined in large part by the dispersal
mechanism and this has important implications for the demographic and genetic structure of plant
populations, as well as migration patterns and species interactions. There are five main modes of
seed dispersal: gravity, wind, ballistic, water, and by animals. Some plants are serotinous and only
disperse their seeds in response to an environmental stimulus.

e. Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or similar structure. The most
common example of germination is the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of
an angiosperm or gymnosperm. In addition, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the
spores of hyphae from fungal spores, is also germination. Thus, in a general sense, germination
can be thought of as anything expanding into greater being from a small existence or germ.

Reproduction (or procreation or breeding) is the biological process by which new individual organisms –
"offspring" – are produced from their "parents".
Reproduction is a fundamental feature of all known life; each individual organism exists as the result of
reproduction.

Science / Reproduction in Animals

 Living organisms give birth to young ones to ensure the continuity of life, unbroken from generation to
generation. Both animals and plants reproduce either asexually (involves single parent) or sexually (involves
two parents).
 Sexual reproduction takes place with the help of sex cells called Gametes, Sperms (produced by the male)
and Ovum or Egg (female).
 An ovum and a sperm combine in a process called Fertilisation to form a Zygote.
 Fertilisation may occur external (outside the body) or internal (inside the female body). In humans, the male
reproductive organs are the testes and the female reproductive organs are the ovaries. Fertilisation in humans
occurs in the oviduct of the female and the zygote develops in the uterus before being born. The zygote grows
by cell division to form the embryo which develops into the foetus. Some lay eggs(oviparous) like the birds and
reptiles and some give birth to young ones(viviparous) like cats, dogs, humans.
 All living beings undergo drastic changes during growth and development from one form to another, this is
called Metamorphosis e.g. In a butterfly: egg -> caterpillar -> pupa -> adult. Revise asexual reproduction in
amoeba by fission and hydra by budding.