Vegetative reproduction

Vegetative reproduction (also known as vegetative propagation, vegetative multiplication or vegetative cloning) is any form of asexual reproduction occurring in plants in which a new plant grows from a fragment of the parent plant or a specialized reproductive structure. Vegetative reproduction (also known as vegetative propagation, vegetative multiplication or vegetative cloning) is any form of asexual reproduction occurring in plants in which a new plant grows from a fragment of the parent plant or a specialized reproductive structure. Many plants naturally reproduce this way, but it can also be induced artificially. Horticulturalists have developed asexual propagation techniques that use vegetative plant parts to replicate plants. Success rates and difficulty of propagation vary greatly. Monocotyledons typically lack a vascular cambium and therefore are harder to propagate. Plant propagation is the process of plant reproduction of a species or cultivar, and it can be sexual or asexual. It can happen through the use of vegetative parts of the plants, such as leaves, stems, and roots to produce new plants or through growth from specialized vegetative plant parts. While many plants reproduce by vegetative reproduction, they rarely exclusively use that method to reproduce. Vegetative reproduction is not evolutionary advantageous; it does not allow for genetic diversity and could lead plants to accumulate deleterious mutations. Vegetative reproduction is favored when it allows plants to produce more offspring per unit of resource than reproduction through seed production. In general, juveniles of a plant are easier to propagate vegetatively. Although most plants normally reproduce sexually, many can reproduce vegetatively, or can be induced to do so via hormonal treatments. This is because meristematic cells capable of cellular differentiation are present in many plant tissues. Vegetative propagation is usually considered a cloning method. However, root cuttings of thornless blackberries will revert to thorny type because the adventitious shoot develops from a cell that is genetically thorny. Thornless blackberry is a chimera, with the epidermal layers genetically thornless but the tissue beneath it genetically thorny. Similarly, leaf cutting propagation of certain chimeral variegated plants like the snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata), will produce mainly nonvariegated plants. Grafting is often not a complete cloning method because seedlings are used as rootstocks. In that case, only the top of the plant is clonal. In some crops, particularly apples, the rootstocks are vegetatively propagated so the entire graft can be clonal if the scion and rootstock are both clones. Apomixis (including apospory and diplospory) is a type of reproduction that does not involve fertilization. In flowering plants, unfertilized seeds are produced, or plantlets that grow instead of flowers. Hawkweed (Hieracium), dandelion (Taraxacum), some citrus (Citrus) and many grasses such as Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) all use this form of asexual reproduction. Bulbils are sometimes formed instead of the flowers of garlic. Meristem tissue makes the process of asexual reproduction possible. It is normally found in stems, leaves, and tips of stems and roots and consists of undifferentiated cells that are constantly dividing allowing for plant growth and give rise to plant tissue systems. The meristem tissue's ability to continuously divide allows for vegetative propagation to occur. Another important ability that allows for vegetative propagation is the ability to develop adventitious roots which arise from other vegetative parts of the plants such as the stem or leaves. These roots allow for the development of new plants from body parts from other plants.