Reproduction of a flowering plant?

The Process of Reproduction in a Flowering Plant

• Answer:

  The Basics Flowering plants, or angiosperms, make up the largest percentage of plant life on earth for a good reason---they reproduce successfully in huge numbers. We grow angiosperms as ornamental flowers, fruits and vegetables, and pull them out of our lawns as weeds. Some, like hybrid roses, need perfect soil and climate conditions to reproduce but others, like violas, only need a friendly insect to help. Plants, like other organisms, are composed of cells that divide and re-produce their genetic code in each new cell. As the cells divide, the plant grows in a way dictated by its DNA. As the plant matures, cells begin to divide carrying only part of the genetic code. These cells are called haploid cells and contain the physical forms that will allow the plant to reproduce. At maturity, the female and male haploid cells will re-combine as sperm and ovum to form a new, complete cell that will become a new plant, or next generation. Vegetative Reproduction Flowering plants and non-flowering plants both use vegetative reproduction, starting new plants with parts of the old. New roses, lilacs and other shrubby flowering plants are often started by parts of the old plant, called cuttings, growing roots from nodules along branches. Lilies, hostas and peonies have bulbous underground roots that grow until they divide into new bulbs and tubers. Flowering herbs, daisies and daylilies send out runners or stolons that sprout a plant wherever these underground "branches" break the surface. Vegetative reproduction is a backup reproduction method for many flowering plants. Sexual Reproduction Seeds are the result of sexual rather than vegetative reproduction and it is this method that provides the spectacular blooms of summer. The gametophyte phase is when male and female haploid cells begin the construction of the sperm and ovum that will combine to form the new plant. The petals of the flower protect the reproductive organs of the plant until maturity when the flower opens The ovary containing the baby seed, or ovule, is located at the fleshy bottom of a long pistil, at the end of which a stigma waits to receive pollen, the dusty substance that covers the stamen that encircle the pistil. Insects, birds, the wind or helpful gardeners transfer pollen from stamen to stigma and the germination of the ovule begins the growth of the egg into a seed that contains a complete DNA sequence from the parent plant. Combinations of plants cause cross-breeding and new varieties or species are created. Seeds are freed when the seed pod opens or the old plant dies.