Asexual Plant Propagation

Flashcards covering vocabulary related to asexual plant propagation, including natural and artificial methods.

Asexual Plant Propagation

A reproductive method that does not require investment in flowers, pollinator attraction, or seed dispersal and produces genetically identical offspring.

Natural Vegetative Propagation

Asexual reproduction in plants that occurs without human intervention.

Modified Stems

The most common source of vegetative reproduction in plants.

Runner

Adventitious roots that grow along the ground, creating new plants from their nodes.

Rhizome

Stems that grow horizontally along the surface or underground, developing roots and shoots from segments into new plants.

Bulbs

Shortened underground storage structures with stems enclosed in fleshy, concentric, layered leaves, often dormant in adverse conditions.

Corm

A swollen underground storage structure with dry scale leaves, solid and not layered like bulbs.

Cormel

Daughter corms that grow on a parent corm.

Stem Tubers

Swollen parts of a stem buried in soil, with nodes (eyes) that produce new shoots.

Root Tubers

Swollen roots used for storage, with buds at the base of the stem that grow into new plants.

Suckers

Stems that originate from underground roots and emerge, possibly remaining attached to the mother plant.

Artificial Vegetative Reproduction

Asexual plant reproduction that involves human intervention.

Cuttings

Sections cut from stems that will grow roots when submerged in water or placed in specific conditions, often aided by hormones.

Auxin

A plant hormone often administered to cuttings to encourage root growth.

Tissue Culture

A method of propagating plants in a test tube by isolating protoplast or apical meristem and using hormones to promote root and shoot growth.

Cytokinin

A plant hormone that promotes shoot growth in tissue culture.

Layering

Bending plant branches or stems to enter the ground, covering them with soil to induce rooting.

Air Layering

A layering technique where bark is stripped from a branch, soil is placed around the wound until roots form, and the new plant is then cut and replanted.

Division

Breaking a plant at its roots into several pieces, ensuring each section has roots and shoots, recommended every few years for perennial growth.

Grafting

A technique where a cutting (scion) is inserted into a prepared base (stock) of another plant and fastened, allowing them to join and grow as one.

Scion

The cutting or stem portion of a plant that is inserted into another plant during grafting.

Stock

The base plant part into which a scion is grafted.