How do Plants Reproduce
Plants are living organisms with complex cycles and extravagant reproduction processes that can occur without fertilisation. These abundant and essential beings provide oxygen, as well as fruits and seeds and they are the basis for nearly all of humanity's needs and wants.
They have reproductive organs and a fascinating life cycle for all nature lovers to discover and enjoy. Do you love plant life? Do you know anything about pollination? On OneHowTo we will explain how plants reproduce and we share with you some interesting facts about these fabulous organisms that inhabit the earth.
Contents
Plant growth
Plants have a complex development model, containing thousands of microscopic cells (each with a different function), stems, roots and reproductive organs.
There are over 300,000 species of plants, most of which are floral, the ones that produce the seeds. The flower produces two types of gametophytes, male and female. The female gametophyte changes a cell into an egg, a small structure within the ovary of the flower.
The ovary is a larger structure deep inside the flower that contains, hides and protects many eggs. Flowering plants are unique in that their eggs are completely enclosed and hidden away in the ovary.
Reproduction begins with pollination, which can occur through insects or pollen traveling on the high winds. The pollen goes from flower to flower, letting the male and the female come together to create seeds, the potential for new floral life.
Some flowers are pollinated at night, as they are assaulted by butterflies, bats and flies.
Animal pollinators
Each flower can have specific animal pollinators. One of them is the humming bird, one of the most common pollinators in plants in the Americas, which has a long beak to reach the nectar inside flowers. There are also other animals like bumblebees or bees which pollinate colourful flowers, especially those yellow, purple, blue or white. The little animals are attracted by the smell of the flowers, a smell that could be repulsive to humans. Some flowers are also pollinated by night, especially by butterflies, bats and flies.
Plant reproduction
Plants have various mechanisms to ensure their offspring are created: sexual reproduction which occurs by the fusion of gametes (sex cells) and asexual reproduction without the fusion of gametes.
Sexual reproduction results in babies that are genetically different to the parent plants. Asexual progeny, however, means that genetically identical plants are obtained except for the odd little mutation.
For the sexual fusion to take place, the pollen grain must be transported to the stigma, a receptive platform on top of the style, an elongated extension on top of the carpel where the pollen grain germinates.
Now that you know how plants reproduce, you can learn how the process works in animals.
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