Asexual Reproduction

Producing offspring from one parent

Producing offspring using two parents with

egg and sperm

Describe the offspring made using sexual reproduction in plants

All the offspring will have different traits.

You can make many offspring.

It will take a long time for them to reach maturity since they start out small (from seeds).

Describe the offspring produced using asexual reproduction in plants

All of the offspring are alike.

Many offspring can be made.

They can reach maturity quickly because they can begin with a large tissue piece.

What are clones?

 Plants that are made using asexual reproduction. They are genetically identical to their one parent and to each other.

Rhizome

A horizontal underground stem

It may or may not be fleshy.

Example: ginger root

How can you tell that a rhizome is really a stem and not a root?

They have scale-like leaves, buds, nodes and internodes.

Tubers

Tubers are the swollen ends of rhizomes.

They have buds like the "eyes" on potatoes.

Bulb

A short, upright, underground stem covered with many swollen leaf bases.

Example: onions

Corm

A short, underground, upright stem.

It has a thick stem that stores food and thin, papery leaves.

Examples: crocus

Stolon

A horizontal above ground stem.

It is thin and as it grows across the surface of the soil, the buds along the stem can make adventitious roots and form new plants.