Reproduction from roots, leaves and stems

Any reproduction that occurs without the combining of male and female sex cells or sex nuclei is called asexual reproduction. Some angiosperms have special kinds of organs which they use to reproduce asexually in nature. Most often, these are roots, leaves and stems.

You can grow whole new plants from the sweet potatoes you buy in a grocery store. Sweet potatoes are the roots of flowering plants. New shoots will readily grow from a sweet potato.

The leaves of some plants can also grow into new plants. Suppose you bump into a jade plant and knock off a leaf. You can grow a whole new jade plant by placing the leaf in the soil or water. The same is true for the African violet plants you see to the right.

Any plants have special stems that allow them to reproduce asexually. Onion plants can reproduce asexually by using bulbs which grow underground. The bulb is the part of the onion plant that you eat. Bulbs are really short, fat stems with roots. The stem begins to grow when the bulb is planted. Most of the bulb is made up of tightly packed leaves that store food. You can see these leaves when an onion is cut open. Other common plants with bulbs are tulips, lilies and daffodils.

A potato is a tuber that grows underground. A tuber is a thick stem with buds that can grow into a new plant. The buds of the tuber are the "eyes" you cut out of potato before you cook it. New plants grow from the buds when a potato is planted. Dahlias and peonies can also reproduce by tubers.

The strawberry plants are connected by a runner, which is a stem that grows across the top of the soil. New strawberry plants grow at points where the runner touches the ground. Strawberries spread out in a field because these runners stretch out in all directions.

Date: 2014-12-22; view: 831