Plant Reproduction

Features of an insect-pollinated plant

• petals - large and colourful

• nectar - scented

• pollen grains - sticky

• anthers - inside flower - stiff and attached

• stigma - inside flower - sticky

Features of an wind-pollinated plant

• petals - small and dull

• nectar - no nectar/scent

• pollen grains - smooth and light

• anthers - outside flower - loose on long filaments

• stigma - outside flower - feathery

Describe the steps of seed and fruit formation

1. pollen grains land on stigma

2. pollen tube grows out of the pollen grain and down the style into the ovary and then to the ovule

3. male nucleus travels down the pollen tube from the pollen grain to fuse with the female egg nucleuus in the ovule, forming a zygote

4. zygote undergoes mitosis to form a seed

5. ovule becomes the seed

6. the ovary will become the fruit

Describe the conditions needed for seed germination

WOW

• Water - activates enzymes to break down starch food reserves in seeds

• Oxygen - needed for aerobic respiration to release energy for growth

• Warmth - optimum temp for enzymes will increase growth rate

Describe a natural method of asexual reproduuction

• runners (e.g strawberries)

• grow horizontally over soil surface and put down roots to form new plants

Describe an artificial method of asexual reproduuction

• cuttings

• tissue samples scraped from parent plant and then placed in agar growth medium with nutrients and auxins

• sample develops into plantlets and these are planted into compost to grow more