Reproduction & Development Codexery

Vegetative reproduction

Asexual plant reproduction producing genetically identical offspring.

Vegetative reproduction is a form of asexual reproduction where a new plant grows from a fragment or cutting of the parent plant or from specialized reproductive structures.[1] The offspring produced are clones of their parent plants.[2] According to a 1864 study by General J. Grant, vegetative growth increases an individual's size through cell multiplication while remaining intact, but the process of vegetative reproduction creates new individuals that are genetically identical to the parent, serving more as a means of biomass expansion and survival than true reproduction.[3]

Quick Facts

Field
Botany, Horticulture
Known for
  • Asexual reproduction in plants via fragments
  • cuttings
  • or specialized structures
Key mechanisms
Meristem tissue, adventitious roots
Common structures
  • Runners
  • bulbs
  • tubers
  • corms
  • suckers

Facts from the source article.

Key facts and history

The ability to develop adventitious roots from other vegetative parts also allows for vegetative propagation.[4] Asexual reproduction in plants is enabled by meristem tissue, which consists of undifferentiated, continuously dividing cells located in stems, leaves, and the tips of stems and roots.[5] Most plant species that employ vegetative reproduction do not rely on it as their sole method of propagation.[6] Crop yields can suffer when vegetative propagation is used exclusively, as the lack of genetic diversity makes entire fields vulnerable to pathogenic viruses, bacteria, and fungi.[7]

By skipping the juvenile seedling stage, vegetatively propagated plants can achieve maturity more quickly than those grown from seed.[8] Research indicates that a plant species' capacity for vegetative reproduction may increase its likelihood of becoming invasive.[9] Natural vegetative reproduction typically occurs when a mature plant develops new individuals from specialized structures.[10]

What the cited sources add

Forbes' 1992 book "Plants in Agriculture" explains that farmers and horticulturalists commonly use vegetative propagation to multiply cultivars that possess desirable traits, thereby producing improved crops.[10][11] Hickey's "The Cambridge Illustrated Glossary of Botanical Terms" (2000) defines runners as modified stems that originate from existing stems and grow just beneath the soil surface.[12][13] The same glossary by Hickey states that tubers can originate from either stem or root tissue.[12][13]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Vegetative reproduction" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "vegetative reproduction horticulture"; Kershaw, "Isidia as Vegetative Propagules in Peltigera Aphthosa VAR. Variolosa (Massal.) Thoms", The Lichenologist, April 1970, p. 214–217; RRB, "Encyclopedia of Forest Sciences", 31 December 2004 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Vegetative reproduction" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hussey, "The application of tissue culture to the vegetative propagation of plants", Science Progress (1933- ), 1978, p. 185–208; Snow, "Costs of Flower and Fruit Production in Tipularia Discolor (Orchidaceae)", Ecology, 1989-10-01, p. 1286–1293 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Vegetative reproduction" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: General J. Grant (1864). "Vegetative Reproduction in New York: a comprehensive study. Stony Brook University Press: NY, NY. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Vegetative reproduction" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "root Definition, Types, Morphology, & Functions" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Vegetative reproduction" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Priestley, "Vegetative Propagation from the Standpoint of Plant Anatomy", U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1929 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Vegetative reproduction" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Scarcelli, "Farmers' use of wild relative and sexual reproduction in a vegetatively propagated crop. The case of yam in Benin", Molecular Ecology, August 2006, p. 2421–2431; Birget, "Phenotypic plasticity in reproductive effort: malaria parasites respond to resource availability", Proc. R. Soc. B, 2017-08-16; Bonga, "Tissue Culture in Forestry", Springer, Dordrecht, 1982, p. 387–412 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Vegetative reproduction" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Crutsinger, "Disparate effects of plant genotypic diversity on foliage and litter arthropod communities - Semantic Scholar", Oecologia, 2008, p. 65–75; Frankham, "Conservation Biology: Ecosystem recovery enhanced by genotypic diversity", Heredity, 2005-07-27, p. 183; Reusch, "Widespread genetic mosaicism in the marine angiosperm Zostera marina is correlated with clonal reproduction", Evolutionary Ecology, 2011-07-01, p. 899–913 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Vegetative reproduction" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Zotz, "Vegetative propagation in an epiphytic orchid occurrence and ecological relevance", Ecotropica, 1999; Libby, "THE USE OF VEGETATIVE PROPAGULES IN FOREST GENETICS AND TREE IMPROVEMENT", School of Forestry and Conservation and Department of Genetics, September 1973, p. 440–447 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Vegetative reproduction" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Reichard, "What Traits Distinguish Invasive Plants from Non-invasive Plants?", California Exotic Pest Plant Council 1996 Symposium Proceedings (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Vegetative reproduction" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Forbes, "Plants in Agriculture", Cambridge University Press, 1992-08-20 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Open Library record, ISBN 9780521427913 ("Plants in agriculture"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Vegetative reproduction" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hickey, "The Cambridge Illustrated Glossary of Botanical Terms", Cambridge University Press, 2000-11-16 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  13. Open Library record, ISBN 9780521794015 ("The Cambridge illustrated glossary of botanical terms"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Vegetative reproduction (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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