Asexual Plant Reproduction

Flashcards covering vocabulary related to asexual plant reproduction, including natural and artificial methods, types of modified stems, and techniques like grafting and tissue culture.

Asexual Reproduction (Plants)

A method of plant propagation that does not require the investment of producing a flower to attract pollinators, or finding a means of seed dispersal, resulting in genetically identical offspring.

Vegetative Propagation

A form of asexual reproduction in plants where a new plant develops from parts of a single mature parent plant, either by natural or artificial means.

Corm

A swollen underground stem that is solid tissue, like that of a garlic plant or gladiola, which can self-propagate.

Bulb

An underground storage structure consisting of layers of modified leaves that surround a shortened, underground stem, such as in tulips or onions.

Rhizome

A modified stem that typically grows horizontally along or beneath the ground, functioning as a storage site and producing new plants from its segments, as seen in ginger or bamboo.

Stem Tubers

Swollen parts of a stem buried in the soil that have 'eyes' or nodes capable of producing new shoots, exemplified by potato plants.

Runners

Modified stems that grow at or just below the soil surface, forming adventitious roots at their nodes, which can then give rise to new plants, as in strawberries or peppermint.

Advantages of Asexual Reproduction

Includes the need for only a single parent, lower metabolic cost compared to sexual reproduction, rapid reproduction, and consistency due to its simplicity.

Natural Vegetative Propagation

Strategies developed by plants to self-propagate without human intervention, utilizing structures like roots, stems, or leaves (e.g., Kalanchoe plantlets on leaves).

Cormels

Smaller daughter corms that grow on mature corms and can be separated and planted to produce new plants.

Root Tubers

Swollen roots that serve as storage structures and can develop into new plants with identical genetic makeup as the parents, such as sweet potatoes or dahlias.

Sucker

A vegetative stem structure that starts from an underground stem and shoots up to the surface, used for propagation in plants like bananas or raspberries.

Artificial Vegetative Propagation

Plant reproduction techniques that involve human intervention, such as cutting, layering, division, grafting, and tissue culturing, often used to clone plants with desirable qualities.

Cuttings

A method of artificial vegetative propagation where a severed plant part, usually a stem, is placed in moist ground or water to root and grow into a new plant.

Rooting Hormone (Auxin)

Plant hormones, such as Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), that can be applied to cuttings to encourage root growth and increase the success rate of propagation.

Tissue Culture (Micropropagation)

An artificial plant propagation technique involving the isolation of protoplasts or apical meristem tips, inducing callus formation, and then developing plants with roots and shoots; often used to produce virus-free plants.

Layering

An artificial vegetative propagation method where plant branches or stems are bent to touch the ground and covered with soil, inducing roots to form while still attached to the parent plant (e.g., jasmine).

Air Layering (Marcotting)

An alternate method of layering where roots are induced to grow on stems above the ground by wounding a branch, applying rooting hormone, and enclosing it in a moisture-retaining medium within a moisture barrier.

Division (Horticulture)

A method of asexual plant propagation, usually applied to herbaceous perennials, where the plant is broken up into two or more parts, ensuring both the root and crown of each part remain intact.

Grafting

An artificial method of asexual reproduction used to produce plants combining favorable stem characteristics (scion) with favorable root characteristics (stock), integrating their tissue systems.

Scion

The desired cutting or upper part of a plant that is attached to another plant in the process of grafting.

Stock (Rootstock)

The lower part of a grafted plant that remains rooted in the ground, providing the root system and sometimes influencing characteristics like disease resistance or cold tolerance.

Chip Budding

A grafting technique used when mature buds are present, involving making specific cuts to transfer a 'chip' containing a bud from the scion to the stock, often used for smaller diameter materials.

Bench, Whip, or Tongue Grafting

A grafting technique typically performed indoors when both stock and scion are dormant, involving interlocking sloping cuts between parts of similar diameter to create a strong union.

Phylloxera Aphid

A tiny insect, native to North America, that feeds on grapevine roots, which historically devastated European vineyards and led to the widespread use of grafting Vinifera varieties onto resistant American rootstocks.