4. Any reproduction that occurs without the
combining of male and female sex cells or sex
nuclei is called
asexual reproduction.
Sweet potatoes are the
roots of flowering plants.
New shoots will readily
grow from a sweet
potato.
Shoots growing from roots
5.
6. The leaves of some plants
can also grow into new plants.
Many plants have special
stems that allow them to
reproduce asexually.
Onion plants can
reproduce asexually by
using bulbs, which grow
underground.
7. Most of the bulb is made
up of tightly packed leaves
that store food.
9. 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 a potato
before you cook it.
10. New plants grow from the buds when a potato
is planted.
Dahlias and peonies
can also reproduce by
tubers.
11. The strawberry plants are connected by a
runner which is a stem that grows across
the top of the soil.
12. 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.
14. Asexual Reproduction in Plants Is Important!
There are three types of asexual reproduction:
Stem cutting
Layering
Grafting
15. Stem cuttings are branches that are cut
off a plant and placed in water or soil.
16. This method is used in greenhouses to
quickly grow geraniums.
17. When plant growers use the layering method,
they cover a branch containing one or more buds,
with soil.
The buds on some of the covered branches may grow
into new plants.
18. Sometimes plant growers cut off the top part of a
plant and attach it to the root system or stem of
another plant.
This method is called
grafting.
19. The advantage of grafting is that a new plant is
made by joining the good parts of one plant to
the good parts of another.
One kind of rose bush, for
example, may have good
roots, but it may not have
pretty flowers.
Another kind of plant may
have beautiful flowers, but
poor roots.
