add

• Plant reproduction is necessary for the survival and perpetuation of plant species that are such an important part of our daily lives
• Sexual reproduction


  Plants reproduce by means of sexual and/or asexual reproduction

  
• Seeds


  The means by which plants sexually reproduce, containing all the genetic characteristics of the parent plant

  
• Seed propagation is the most economical and widely used method of producing new plants, provided that plants of the desired type can be reproduced by this method

  
• Reproducing plants by seeds allows a grower to produce a large number of plants
• Sexual plant reproduction


  Involves reproducing plants from seeds, as a result of the pollination and fertilization processes that occur in the flowers of a plant

  
• Flowers


  • Contain stamens (male reproductive part) and pistil (female reproductive part)
  • Flowers which contain either only pistil or only stamens are called unisexual or dioecious flowers
  • Flowers which contain both stamens and pistil are called bisexual or monoecious flowers

  
• Pollination and fertilization


  1. Part of the sexual process that occurs within the flowers or reproductive structures of a plant

  2. Result in the formation and development of seeds

  3. Each seed produced contains a tiny plant and a supply of stored food, surrounded by a protective covering

  
• Most plants have roots, stems and leaves, which are called the vegetative parts of a plant
• After a certain period of growth, most plants bear flowers, which perform the function of reproduction in plants
• Ways by which plants produce their offspring


  • Asexual reproduction
  • Sexual reproduction

  
• Pollination


  1. Pollen grains (male sex cells) are transferred to the stigmas (female sex cells)

  2. Self-pollination occurs when pollen comes into contact with a stigma within the same flower or other flowers on the same plant

  3. Cross-pollination occurs when pollen from the flower of one plant transfers to stigmas of flowers on another plant

  
• Fertilization


  1. A pollen grain germinates and produces a pollen tube, which grows down through the style and into the ovary where it reaches an ovule

  2. Fertilization occurs when the male sex cell in the pollen tube unites with the female sex cell in the ovule

  3. Double fertilization results from the unions of the two male sex cells - one with the egg cell to form a zygote, and the other with two separate polar nuclei to form a primary endosperm nucleus

  
• Asexual reproduction


  Involves the production of new plants by use of vegetative parts from an existing plant, such as stems, buds, leaves, and roots

  
• Vegetative propagation


  A type of asexual reproduction in which new plants are produced from roots, stems, leaves and buds