reproductive system, plant

Introduction

      any of the systems, sexual or asexual, by which plants reproduce. In plants, as in animals, the end result of reproduction is the continuation of a given species, and the ability to reproduce is, therefore, rather conservative, or given to only moderate change, during evolution. Changes have occurred, however, and the pattern is demonstrable through a survey of plant groups.

      Reproduction in plants is basically either asexual or sexual. Asexual reproduction in plants involves a variety of widely disparate methods for creating new plants identical in every respect to the parent. Sexual reproduction, on the other hand, depends on a complex series of basic cellular events, involving chromosomes and their genes, that take place within an elaborate sexual apparatus evolved precisely for the creation of new plants in some respects different from the two parents that played a role in their production. (For an account of the common details of asexual and sexual reproduction and the evolutionary significance of the two methods see reproduction.)

      In order to describe the modification of reproductive systems, plant groups must be identified. One convenient classification of organisms sets plants apart from lower forms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and protozoans. Under such an arrangement, the plants, as separated, comprise two great divisions (or phyla)—the Bryophyta (bryophyte) (mosses (moss) and liverworts (liverwort)) and the Tracheophyta (vascular plants (tracheophyte)). The vascular plants include four subdivisions (club moss): the three entirely seedless groups are the Psilopsida, Lycopsida, and Sphenopsida; the fourth group, the Pteropsida (pteropsid), consists of the ferns (fern) (seedless) and the seed plants (gymnosperms (gymnosperm) and angiosperms (angiosperm)).

      A comparative treatment of the two patterns of reproductive systems will introduce the terms required for an understanding of the survey of those systems as they appear in selected plant groups.

General features of asexual systems

      Asexual reproduction involves no union of cells or nuclei of cells and, therefore, no mingling of genetic traits, since the nucleus contains the genetic material (chromosomes) of the cell. Only those systems of asexual reproduction that are not really modifications of sexual reproduction are considered below. They fall into two basic types: systems that utilize almost any fragment or part of a plant body; and systems that depend upon specialized structures that have evolved as reproductive agents.

Reproduction by fragments (plant breeding)

      In many plant groups, fragmentation of the plant body, followed by regeneration and development of the fragments into whole new organisms, serves as a reproductive system. Fragments of the plant bodies of liverworts and mosses regenerate to form new plants. In nature and in laboratory and greenhouse culture, liverworts fragment as a result of growth; the growing fragments separate by decay at the region of attachment to the parent. During prolonged drought, the mature portions of liverworts often die, but their tips resume growth and produce a series of new plants from the original parent plant.

      In mosses, small fragments of the stems and leaves (even single cells of the latter) can, with sufficient moisture and under proper conditions, regenerate and ultimately develop into new plants.

      It is common horticultural (horticulture) practice to propagate desirable varieties of garden plants by means of plant fragments, or cuttings. These may be severed leaves or portions of roots or stems, which are stimulated to develop roots and produce leafy shoots. Naturally fallen branches of willows (Salix) and poplars (Populus) root under suitable conditions in nature and eventually develop into trees. Other horticultural practices that exemplify asexual reproduction include budding (the removal of buds of one plant and their implantation on another) and grafting (the implantation of small branches of one individual on another).

Reproduction by special asexual structures

      Throughout the plant kingdom, specially differentiated or modified cells, groups of cells, or organs have, during the course of evolution, come to function as organs of asexual reproduction. These structures are asexual in that the individual reproductive agent develops into a new individual without the union of sex cells (gametes). A number of examples of special asexual agents of reproduction from several plant groups are cited in this section.

      Airborne spores characterize most nonflowering land plants, such as mosses, liverworts, and ferns. Although the spores arise as products of meiosis, a cellular event in which the number of chromosomes in the nucleus is halved, such spores are asexual in the sense that they may grow directly into new individuals, without prior sexual union.

      Among liverworts, mosses, lycopods, ferns, and seed plants, few to many celled, specially organized buds, or gemmae, also serve as agents of asexual reproduction.

      The vegetative, or somatic, organs of plants may, in their entirety, be modified to serve as organs of reproduction. In this category belong such flowering-plant structures as stolons, rhizomes (rhizome), tubers (tuber), corms (corm), and bulbs (bulb), as well as the tubers of liverworts, ferns, and horsetails, the dormant buds of certain moss stages, and the leaves of many succulents. Stolons are elongated runners, or horizontal stems, such as those of the strawberry, which root and form new plantlets when they make proper contact with a moist soil surface. Rhizomes, as seen in iris, are fleshy, elongated, horizontal stems that grow within or upon the soil. The branching of rhizomes results in multiplication of the plant. The enlarged, fleshy tips of subterranean rhizomes or stolons are known as tubers, examples of which are potatoes. Tubers are fleshy storage stems, the buds (“eyes”) of which, under proper conditions, can develop into new individuals. Erect, vertical, fleshy, subterranean stems, which are known as corms, are exemplified by crocuses and gladioli. These organs tide the plants over periods of dormancy and may develop secondary cormlets, which give rise to new plantlets. Unlike the corm, only a small portion of the bulb, as in lilies and the onion, represents stem tissue. The latter is surrounded by the fleshy, food-storage bases of earlier formed leaves. After a period of dormancy, bulbs develop into new individuals. Large bulbs produce secondary bulbs through development of buds, resulting in an increase in number of individuals.

General features of sexual systems

      In most plant groups both sexual and asexual methods of reproduction occur. Some species, however, seem secondarily to have lost the capacity for sexual reproduction. Such cases are described below (see Variations in reproductive cycles (reproductive system, plant)).

The cellular basis

      Sexual reproduction at the cellular level generally involves the following phenomena: the union of sex cells and their nuclei, with concomitant association of their chromosomes, which contain the genes, and the nuclear division called meiosis. The sex cells are called gametes (gamete), and the product of their union is a zygote. All gametes are normally haploid (having a single set of chromosomes) and all zygotes, diploid (having a double set of chromosomes, one set from each parent). Gametes may be motile, by means of whiplike hairs (flagella) or of flowing cytoplasm (amoeboid motion). In their union, gametes may be morphologically indistinguishable (i.e., isogamous) or they may be distinguishable only on the criterion of size (i.e., heterogamous). The larger gamete, or egg, is nonmotile; the smaller gamete, or sperm, is motile. The last type of gametic difference, egg and sperm, is often designated as oogamy. In oogamous reproduction, the union of sperm and egg is called fertilization. Isogamy, heterogamy, and oogamy are often considered to represent an increasingly specialized evolutionary series.

      In the plants included in this article—bryophytes (mosses and liverworts) and tracheophytes (vascular plants)—sexual reproduction is of the oogamous type, or a modification thereof, in which the sex cells, or gametes, are of two types, a larger nonmotile egg and a smaller motile sperm. These gametes are often produced in special containers called gametangia, which are multicellular. In cases in which special gametangia are lacking, every cell produces a gamete. In oogamy, the male gametangia are called antheridia and the female oogonia or archegonia. A female gametangium with a sterile cellular jacket is called an archegonium although, like an oogonium, it produces eggs. In most of the plants dealt with in this article the eggs are produced in archegonia and the sperms in antheridia with surface layers of sterile cells.

The plant basis

      Individual plants may be either bisexual (hermaphroditic), in which male and female gametes are produced by the same organism, or unisexual, producing either male or female gametes but not both. A bisexual individual, however, is not necessarily capable of fertilizing its own eggs. In certain ferns, for example, male gametes of one individual are not compatible with the female gametes of the same individual, so that cross-fertilization (with another individual of the species) is obligatory. This situation, of course, is similar in adaptive significance to cross-pollination (which leads to cross-fertilization) among seed plants.

      Among the liverworts, mosses, and vascular plants, the life cycle involves two different phases, often called generations, although only one plant generation is, in fact, involved in one complete cycle. This type of life cycle is often said to illustrate the “ alternation of generations” in which a haploid individual (i.e., with one set of chromosomes), or tissue, called a gametophyte, at maturity produces gametes that unite in pairs to form diploid (i.e., containing two sets of chromosomes) zygotes. The latter develop directly into individuals, or tissues, called sporophytes (sporophyte), in which the nuclei of certain fertile cells, called spore mother cells, or sporocytes, give rise to haploid spores (sometimes called meiospores). These spores are lightweight and are borne by air currents; they germinate to form the haploid, sexual, gamete-producing phase, usually designated the gametophyte.

      There are several variations in the above described life cycle. The haploid gametophyte and sporophyte may be free-living, independent plants (e.g., certain algae and yeasts), in which case the life cycle is said to be diplobiontic; or the sporophyte may be physically attached to the gametophyte, as it is in liverworts and mosses. By contrast, the gametophytic phases develop as parasites on the sporophytes of the seed plants, as in certain algae. In further variation, the alternating phases may be similar morphologically except for the type of reproductive cells, gametes or spores they produce (isomorphic life cycle); or they may be strikingly dissimilar, as in some algae, mosses, ferns, and seed plants (heteromorphic life cycle). Only heteromorphic life cycles occur in liverworts, mosses, vascular plants, and certain fungi.

      The differences between the gametophyte and sporophyte are often great, especially those of the diplobiontic types, so that the alternates seem to be two different, unrelated individuals rather than different manifestations of the same organism.

Bryophyte reproductive systems

Liverworts and hornworts (hornwort)

      The plant bodies of liverworts and hornworts represent the gametophytic (sexual) phase of the life cycle, which is dominant in these plants. In the liverworts, the sporophyte is borne upon or within the gametophyte but is transitory. Liverwort and hornwort plants, depending on the species, may be bisexual or unisexual, and the sex organs may be distributed on the surface ( Riccia, Ricciocarpus, Sphaerocarpos, Pellia) or localized in groups and borne on special branches (antheriodiophores and archegoniophores) as in Marchantia; the sperms are biflagellate.

      Release of the mature sperm and the process of fertilization require moisture in the form of heavy dew or raindrops. In all but a few genera (Riccia, Ricciocarpus), the developing sporophytes are actively photosynthetic—i.e., capable of utilizing light energy to form organic substances. They are, however, dependent on gametophytic tissues for water (and the inorganic salts dissolved in it) and probably derive and utilize in their nutrition some organic substances manufactured by the gametophytes. Liverwort spores are meiospores; i.e., they arise by meiosis from cells called sporocytes.

      The sporophytes may consist almost completely of fertile (sporogenous) tissues (Riccia, Oxymitra), or they may contain sterile cells (nurse cells or elaters) among the developing spores. In Marchantia and Porella, a sterile foot and seta, or stalk, are present; the foot anchors the spore-bearing capsule (sporangium) to the gametophyte and also probably serves an absorptive function. The seta connects the foot and capsule. The elongation of the seta raises the capsule from its protective envelopes, thus, placing it in a favourable position for spore dispersal. The capsules of liverworts may shed their spores only by decay of the capsule wall and gametophytic tissues (Riccia, Oxymitra), or they may open irregularly or into two or four segments.

      Spore germination in some species may occur immediately after deposition if the spores are in a favourable environment; or, as in other species, the spores may require a period of dormancy before germination.

Mosses

      In mosses, as in liverworts and hornworts, the leafy shoots belong to the gametophytic phase and produce sex organs when they mature. The leafy shoots (often called gametophores, because they bear the sex organs) arise from a preliminary phase called the protonema, the direct product of spore germination. Filamentous, straplike, or membranous, it grows along the soil surface. A protonema of a moss may proliferate, apparently indefinitely, under favourable conditions and thus increase the population of leafy shoots that arise as buds. Under adverse conditions, certain buds and branches of the protonema may thicken their walls and thus serve to tide the species over an unfavourable growing period.

      The antheridia and archegonia may be borne at the tips (apices) of the main shoots or on special, lateral branchlets. Both bisexual and unisexual leafy shoots occur, depending on the species. In a number of mosses (Mnium, Polytrichum (hair-cap moss), Funaria (cord moss)), the sexually mature shoots become recognizable through the production of special, prominent leaves that form an apical cup around the sex organs. If brightly coloured, the cup is often flowerlike. In species with bisexual leafy gametophores, the archegonia and antheridia may be present on the same apex (as can be seen, for example, in Bryum) or at the apices of separate branches as is exemplified in the moss Funaria.

      The archegonia and antheridia of mosses are large enough in many species to be just barely visible to the unaided eye. The jacket cells of the antheridia are often coloured bright orange or rust; their sperm are biflagellate. As in liverworts and hornworts, rains and even heavy dews evoke the liberation of sperm and the opening of the mature archegonia so that fertilization may be accomplished.

      The moss sporophyte, which is attached to the gametophyte, photosynthesizes during much of its development and is more or less self-supporting. It is, to a certain degree, dependent upon the gametophyte for nutrients such as water and mineral salts and, in some cases, even for elaborated foods.

      After elongation of the moss sporophyte has ceased, the distal portion (farthest away) enlarges to form the capsule (sporangium), or spore-bearing region. The spores (meiospores), which arise by meiosis, are shed from the capsules gradually through a variety of mechanisms. After the operculum (cover) of the capsule has been shed, its mouth is usually partially closed by the peristome (teeth) and sometimes by associated structures. These teeth absorb moisture, and their resultant swelling and contraction open spaces through which the spores are shed.

Tracheophyte reproductive systems

Spore plants

      In liverworts, hornworts, and mosses, the dominant phase in the life cycle is the sexual gametophyte. In the tracheophytes (vascular cryptogams and seed plants), on the other hand, the sporophyte is the dominant phase in the life cycle. The gametophytes of the vascular cryptogams mature after the spores that initiated them have been shed from the parent plant, so that the gametophytes are free-living. In the seed plants the gametophytes mature as parasites on the sporophytes.

Psilopsids

      The trilobed sporangia of the whisk fern Psilotum—not a true fern but a psilopsid—are borne terminally on short lateral branches. During development, some of the potentially spore-bearing tissue is used as nutrient by the sporocytes as they complete the meiotic divisions that result in colourless kidney-shaped spores. The latter, which are shed as the sporangia open along three lines, germinate and slowly develop into cylindrical, sparingly branched gametophytes, about 0.5 to two millimetres (0.02 to 0.08 inch) in diameter and several millimetres long. They presumably derive nourishment from decaying matter and occur in humus-rich soil, in rock fissures, or among roots on the trunks of tree ferns. The cells of the gametophyte contain fungal structures (hyphae) that probably are involved in some type of nutritional relation with the gametophyte.

      The gametophytes are bisexual and the sperms multiflagellate. The embryonic sporophyte is not easily distinguished from the gametophyte that bears it. At first anchored to the gametophyte by an absorptive foot, the sporophyte ultimately becomes separated from both the foot and the gametophyte.

Lycopsids

      In the genus Lycopodium, the sporangia are closely associated with the leaves. In some species (L. lucidulum), the sporangium-bearing leaves (sporophylls) occur in zones among the vegetative portions of the stems. In most, however, the sporophylls occur in specialized compressed stems, called cones, or strobili. Each sporophyll is associated with one yellow to orange, kidney-shaped sporangium.

      In several species the spores develop rapidly on the soil surface into ovoid-cylindrical gametophytes about two to three millimetres (0.08 to 0.12 inch) long, with green lobes and colourless bases; they usually contain a fungus. In other species, development of a colourless gametophyte is slow, so that at maturation, which may require up to eight years, the fleshy gametophyte will have become buried in successive layers of humus. These subterranean gametophytes, which contain fungi, are long-lived and are larger (up to two centimetres) than the surface types.

      The gametophytes of Lycopodium are bisexual, although the antheridia and archegonia may develop into separate groups. The sperms are biflagellate and apparently more than one egg of the same gametophyte may be fertilized.

      The zygote divides at a right angle to the long axis of the archegonium. The inner cell gives rise to the embryo, which thus is oriented as if it will develop within the gametophyte; it turns 180° during later development, however, and the axis grows vertically outward from the gametophyte.

      In contrast to Lycopodium, all Selaginella (spike moss) sporophytes have sporophylls localized in strobili, and all species of Selaginella are heterosporous: that is, they produce spores of two sizes, the larger designated as megaspores and the smaller as microspores. The megaspores develop into female gametophytes and the microspores into male gametophytes. Accordingly, strobili bear megasporophylls that contain megasporangia, which will produce megaspores, and microsporophylls that contain microsporangia, which will yield microspores. Although the evolutionary origin of two kinds of spores (dimorphism) is unknown, the development of megaspores in living plants suggests that differences in nutrition in the two kinds of sporangia are significant. In a microsporangium, most of the microsporocytes undergo meiosis, forming four spores each; by contrast, all but one or, occasionally, several of the sporocytes in the megasporangium do not complete development. As a result, only four megaspores usually mature in such a sporangium, enlarging as they become gorged with the nutrients made available by disintegration of the other cells. The megaspores, accordingly, are much larger than microspores, although both contain stored food. Both types of spores are thick walled, and both have prominent three-part (triradiate) ridges.

      Unlike the homosporous spores of most liverworts, hornworts, mosses, ferns, and Lycopodium, the spores of Selaginella begin to develop into gametophytes before they have been shed from their sporangia and attain maturity on a suitable, moist substrate.

      The microscopic male gametophyte is composed essentially of a single antheridium, which produces biflagellate sperm. The female gametophyte, which protrudes after the megaspore wall cracks open in the region of the triradiate ridge, consists of vegetative cells, has several archegonia at maturity, and usually has three groups of rhizoids. Both male and female gametophytes lack the chlorophyll (green pigment) necessary for photosynthesis; they utilize nutrients stored in the spores.

      After fertilization, one zygote of each female gametophyte develops into an embryonic sporophyte. There is considerable variation in details of development among the species of Selaginella. In some, the spores may develop mature gametophytes before they are shed from their sporangia, and fertilization may occur, so that female gametophytes with embryos may be found in the strobili (compressed stems, or cones). The megaspores of Selaginella, containing female gametophytes with still-attached juvenile sporophytes, have the superficial appearance of germinating seeds, from which, however, they differ in many significant respects.

      Isoetes (quillwort), like Selaginella, is monoecious and heterosporous. Most of the leaves are fertile; some bear one large megasporangium each, and others support a single microsporangium on the inner surface of a spoonlike leaf base. The microsporangia can produce enormous numbers of microspores—as many as 1,000,000—and the megasporangia give rise to 50 to 300 megaspores. The spores are liberated as the older sporophylls decay. Unlike those of Selaginella, the spores of Isoetes do not germinate until they have been shed from their sporangia. The unisexual gametophytes are much like those of Selaginella, but the sperm are multiflagellate. The embryonic sporophyte is nourished by food stored in the megaspore and transported through a massive foot.

Sphenopsids

      The perennial sporophytes of horsetails (horsetail) (Equisetum species) produce strobili once during every growing season. They may be borne at the tips of green shoots (E. hyemale, E. kansanum); at the tips of nongreen shoots that become green after the spores have been shed (E. fluviatile, E. sylvaticum); or on special nongreen branches that wither and die after the spores have been shed (E. arvense, E. talmateia). The appendages of the strobilus are often called sporangiophores and have been considered to be both stem branches and of leafy origin; in the latter case, they are called sporophylls. Each sporangiophore bears a number of fingerlike sporangia, which produce large numbers of thin-walled, green spores. The outermost wall layer of the spore breaks down into four appendages, which, by their sensitivity to moisture, coil and uncoil, thereby disseminating the spores.

      The spores of Equisetum germinate rapidly and grow into green, pincushion-like gametophytes anchored to the surface by rhizoids. Apparently, two types of gametophytes are produced from the homosporous spores; some mature slowly, are smaller than others, and always produce antheridia, never archegonia. Others are larger and hermaphroditic, producing archegonia at first and, later, antheridia. The ratios of male to hermaphroditic gametophytes vary among species but are relatively uniform within a species. The ratios are altered by changes in environmental conditions; for example, at certain temperatures (e.g., 32° C, or 90° F) only male gametophytes develop from the spores of five species; whereas at 15° C (59° F) approximately 50 percent are male and 50 percent hermaphroditic gametophytes.

      Self-fertilization of hermaphroditic gametophytes can occur, and several sporophytes may be produced on one gametophyte. The embryo consists of an absorptive foot, a primary root or radicle, and a shoot with whorled appendages.

Ferns

      As they mature, many fern sporophytes begin to produce spores in clusters of sporangia on the undersurfaces of their vegetative “leaves.” Others produce their sporangia on highly modified leaves or portions thereof.

      The site of origin of the sporangia is the receptacle; the latter, with its groups of sporangia, is called a sorus. In many ferns each sorus is covered with a special outgrowth, the indusium; in others, the sporangia are covered during development by the margin of the leaf. In a few ferns (e.g., Polypodium), the sori remain uncovered.

      In primitive ferns, such as Ophioglossum and Botrychium, the spores are borne upon a specialized axis, the fertile spike. The sporangia of such primitive ferns are massive, with several layers of cellular walls, and produce an indefinite but large number of spores. In most other ferns, the sporangia are smaller, long stalked, with single-layered walls and a definite number of spores. The spores of the latter are shed explosively by breakage and shrinking as the sporangia open and then slam shut.

      Most ferns produce one kind of spore (homospory), but a few genera of aquatic and amphibious ferns (Marsilea, Salvinia, and Azolla) produce two kinds (heterospory), small microspores and much larger megaspores. In either case, after being shed from the parent sporophyte, the spores that have suitable environmental conditions germinate and develop into the gametophytic phase. The ribbonlike, filamentous or heart-shaped gametophytes of most ferns contain chlorophyll, are anchored to some surface—moist soil, moist rocks, or tree bark—by unicellular root-like rhizoids, and rarely exceed one-half inch (13 millimetres) in diameter. In a few ferns (Ophioglossum, Botrychium, and certain species of Schizaea), the gametophytes are subterranean, lack chlorophyll, are cylindrical or tuberous, and contain the filamentous structures (hyphae) of an associated fungus.

      Fern gametophytes, often called prothalli (prothallium) (singular, prothallus) are one cell layer thick except in the centre. Most fern prothalli are bisexual—i.e., have both male (antheridia) and female (archegonia)sex organs, which develop usually on the undersurface of the prothallus.

      Although the eggs of several archegonia may be fertilized, only one zygote usually develops into a juvenile sporophyte. The latter consists of an absorbing foot; a primary root, or radicle, which promptly penetrates the surface; a prominent first leaf; and a rudimentary, slowgrowing stem. As the juvenile sporophyte becomes established, the parental gametophyte dies. The series of leaves formed from the stem of the juvenile sporophyte gradually attain the form and vein pattern that characterize the mature sporophyte.

      In most ferns, the antheridia appear before the archegonia and continue to develop as the latter mature; furthermore, the archegonial necks curve toward the mature antheridia so that fertilization can readily occur. Both gametes may be derived from one individual, or from different individuals. In the bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum), although the gametophytes are bisexual, self-incompatability factors reduce self-fertilization. In Onoclea sensiblis, the gametophytes are unisexual in early development, thus favouring cross-fertilization; but, later, the gametophytes become bisexual so that, if cross-fertilization fails, the species can still be maintained.

Seed (seed and fruit) plants

      In the two great groups of seed plants, gymnosperms and angiosperms, the sporophyte is the dominant phase in the life cycle, as it is also in the vascular cryptogams; the gametophytes are microscopic parasites on the sporophytes.

      In the gymnosperms, the seeds occur individually, exposed at the ends of stalks, sometimes in whorls on an axis, or on the scales of a cone, or megastrobilus. In angiosperms, or flowering plants, by contrast, the seeds are enclosed during development in a structure variously termed a pistil or carpel, which is sometimes considered to represent an enfolded megasporophyll.

      A number of parts of the reproductive process are common to both angiosperms and gymnosperms: (1) they produce seeds at maturity; (2) the megasporangium, unlike that of heterosporous seedless plants, is covered by one or two cellular layers called integuments and is termed an ovule; (3) there is a minute passageway, or micropyle, through the integuments; (4) the ovule matures as a seed; (5) only one megasporocyte is present and undergoes meiosis in the megasporangium to produce four megaspores, only one of which usually is functional; (6) the megaspore is never discharged from its megasporangium and ovule; (7) one female gametophyte is produced within each megasporangium and ovule; (8) the microspores begin their development into male gametophytes while still enclosed in the microsporangia; (9) as they mature, the male gametophytes, which are contained within the microspore wall and are termed pollen grains, develop a tube that conveys sperm to the egg cell; (10) union of sperm and egg and development of an embryonic sporophyte from the zygote occur within the female gametophyte (sometimes called the “embryo sac”), which is covered by the remains of the megasporangium and by integuments; (11) as the embryo develops, the ovule matures as a seed.

      In contrast to this impressive list of similarities are important differences, which, in addition to seed position, serve to distinguish angiosperms from gymnosperms. The reproductive cycle in most angiosperms is completed quicker than that in gymnosperms, and the gametophytes are smaller and simpler and, unlike those of most gymnosperms, lack archegonia. The pollen in angiosperms is transferred to the surface of the megasporophyll, whereas in gymnosperms it is brought to the micropyle of the ovule itself. Two sperm are involved in the sexual union in angiosperms: one unites with the egg to form a zygote; the other unites with two nuclei of the female gametophyte to form the primary endosperm nucleus. The latter divides to form a postfertilization storage tissue, which serves as a food source for the embryo; the embryo of gymnosperms is nourished by the somatic (nonreproductive) tissues of the female gametophyte. The angiosperm ovule increases to mature seed size after fertilization, whereas in gymnosperms, this enlargement occurs prior to fertilization.

      The general features of the reproduction of seed plants having now been summarized, certain special aspects of the reproduction in representative seed plants are described below.

Gymnosperms

      The cycads (cycad) are slow-growing dioecious gymnosperms, the microsporangia (potential pollen) and megasporangia (potential ovules) occurring on different individual sporophytes. In all cycads except the genus Cycas, the ovules are borne on megasporophylls in megastrobili; in Cycas the ovules develop on individual, leaflike megasporophylls in what is regarded as a primitive arrangement. The microspores of all cycads develop in microstrobili.

      The microspores reach the three-celled stage of development of the male gametophyte before they are shed as pollen grains from the microsporangia. At this time, elongation of the megastrobilus separates the megasporophylls, and the wind-borne pollen grains have access to the micropyles of the ovules. At the time of pollination each ovule exudes a mucilaginous droplet, the pollination droplet, through the micropyle; some of the pollen grains become engulfed in this droplet and are drawn into the ovule.

      The interval between pollination and fertilization is several months in cycads. The sperm are multiflagellate and are among the largest (about 300 microns, or 0.01 inch) in the plant kingdom. Each pollen tube may contain from two to 22 sperm, depending on the genus. The pollen tubes, which develop from the pollen grains, work their way through the megasporangium of the ovule to the archegonia of the female gametophyte. Fertilization of the eggs of the several archegonia is followed by the early development of several embryos (polyembryony), only one of which survives in the mature seeds. Cycad embryos produce two seed leaves, or cotyledons (cotyledon). The seeds are brightly coloured (yellow or scarlet) and covered by an outer fleshy layer and a stony layer of the integument. The seeds of some cycads (e.g., Cycas) may germinate in the megastrobilus without a period of dormancy.

      The maidenhair tree, or ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba), is sometimes classified with the conifers (see below) or separately in a group of which it is the sole living representative. The mature ginkgo (sporophyte) produces microstrobili and ovules each spring as the buds unfold. They occur on the spur shoots among the bases of the young leaves. The ginkgo, like the cycads, is strictly dioecious, so that some trees produce ovules and others produce pollen. The ovules occur in pairs at the tips of stalks that emerge among the leaf bases.

      Ginkgo pollen, like that of pines, is four-celled at the time of pollination (spring season), which is accomplished by wind. Development of male and female gametophytes is similar to that in cycads, and the sperm are also multiflagellate. The female gametophyte, within the ovule of Ginkgo, is unique among seed plants in containing chlorophyll. The ovules enlarge tremendously after pollination, and as the seeds mature the integument differentiates into several coats, of which a stony layer and outer fleshy layer are most prominent. The latter becomes mottled, purplish green and foul smelling. Its tissues may cause nausea or skin eruptions in man. The inner tissues of the seed (the embryo and the female gametophyte) are palatable and prized among some peoples. Fertilization often occurs after the ovules have fallen from the trees, three or four months after pollination. The ginkgo embryo has two cotyledons.

      The sporophytes of most of the species of living conifers (conifer), like those of the ginkgo, are woody trees at maturity. They usually grow for a number of years beyond the seedling stage before they mature and produce seeds.

      The sporophyte of a typical conifer, such as a pine, may become a large tree. Unlike the cycads and ginkgo, a pine is monoecious, both microstrobili and megastrobili occurring on the same tree. At the beginning of each growing season, the microstrobili enlarge and emerge from their bud scales; they are borne at the base of the terminal bud, which is destined to develop into the current season's growth. The megastrobili, by contrast, arise singly or in a whorl near the apex of the current season's growth.

      The microstrobili are called simple strobili because the microsporangia are borne in pairs on the appendages (microsporophylls) that emerge from the axis of the strobilus. The megastrobili, however, are compound, for the ovules are borne in pairs upon the upper (adaxial) surface of scales, which, in turn, are borne on bracts attached to the megastrobilus.

      The pollen of pine, four-celled when shed, is characterized by two lateral, air-filled “wings,” enlarged cavities between two layers of the pollen-grain wall. The pollen is produced in large amounts and may be transported great distances by air currents. During the time of pollination, the ovuliferous scales on the megastrobili separate slightly, and pollen can be trapped in the pollination droplet of the micropyles of the ovules. Pollen grains that make contact with a droplet are transferred by its subsequent contraction through the micropyle and to the surface of a small depression (pollen chamber) at the tip of the megasporangium.

      As the pollen grain germinates, forming a tube that works its way through the megasporangium, it arrives at the female gametophyte as the latter matures its several archegonia. The pollen tubes discharge their sperm nuclei into the archegonia, and fertilization is accomplished. As in the cycads and ginkgo, the zygotes of several archegonia may initiate embryogeny. Furthermore, in pine and certain other conifers, the young embryos may form several embryos. At maturity of the seed, however, only one embryo is normally present, embedded in the remains of the female gametophyte and megasporangium, all surrounded by the seed coat (the former integument).

      The reproductive process in pine occupies two full growing seasons: ovules pollinated in the spring of a given year do not mature as seeds until the late summer of the next year. The interval between pollination and fertilization is about 14 months.

      Among the numerous other gymnosperm species are many different reproductive processes. Some gymnosperms, for example, are dioecious, with microstrobili and megastrobili being borne on separate plants, as in junipers (juniper) (Juniperus), plum yews (yew) (Cephalotaxus), yews (Taxus), and podocarps (Podocarpaceae) (Podocarpus). Furthermore, in larches (larch) (Larix) and other groups the pollen grains lack wings. The pollen grains in larches become attached at pollination to a special receptive enlargement of the integument. In podocarps, the megasporangium bulges through the micropyle at pollination and receives the pollen directly. The interval between pollination and fertilization may be as short as four to five weeks in firs (Abies). The number of ovules formed on the ovuliferous scale varies, as does the number of microsporangia on the microsporophyll. There may be only one ovule in a megastrobilus, as in some junipers, and the megastrobili may become fleshy, also in junipers. In yews the solitary ovules are terminal on dwarf shoots; each ovule is surrounded by a cuplike structure called an aril, which becomes fleshy and brightly coloured as the seed matures. The number of sperm produced in each male gametophyte varies also—from two in pine to 20 in some cypresses (Cupressus).

      The genera Ephedra, Gnetum, and Welwitschia, which are often grouped together in one category (Gnetales, or Gnetophyta), differ among themselves and from other gymnosperms with respect to several details of reproduction. The microsporangia and ovules of both Ephedra and Welwitschia (Welwitschiaceae) are produced in compound strobili; those of Gnetum are borne in a series of whorls on elongated axes sometimes called misleadingly “inflorescences.” The ovules of these genera, unlike those of other gymnosperms, have two integuments instead of one, as in angiospermous ovules. Archegonia are present in the female gametophytes of Ephedra, but only eggs occur in those of Gnetum and Welwitschia. The sperm, like those of the conifers, lack flagella.

Angiosperms

      Although the angiosperms are known as flowering (flower) plants, they are difficult to distinguish from gymnosperms solely on the basis of bearing flowers, for, like the strobilus, a flower is a compressed stem, with crowded, spore-bearing appendages. The occurrence of coloured petals and attractive scents is not essential and is by no means characteristic of all flowers. The most important distinguishing feature separating flowering plants from gymnosperms is that the ovules of flowering plants are produced within enclosed containers called carpels (carpel).

  Flowers may occur singly at the ends of stems (e.g., tulip [see photograph—>], poppy, rose), or they may be grouped in various clusters or inflorescences (inflorescence) (gladiolus, sunflower, delphinium, and yarrow [see photograph—>]).

      An individual flower may be complete, in that a given floral receptacle produces sepals (often greenish and leaflike), petals (often white or coloured other than green), stamens, and a pistil (or pistils). The sepals are collectively known as the calyx, and the petals as the corolla; the calyx and corolla comprise the perianth. If sepals or petals are lacking, the flower is said to be incomplete. Although incomplete, a flower that has both stamens and a pistil is said to be perfect; lacking either of these parts, it is imperfect.

      In practice, groups of solitary flowers are not easily distinguished from inflorescences; the latter seemingly evolved from a system of branches, each with a terminal, solitary flower. The inflorescence may be few flowered or have up to 6,000,000 flowers, as in certain palms. Inflorescences vary also in their position, being terminal, axillary, or intercalary. Terminal inflorescences are at the tips of the major or dominant branches; axillary ones are at the tips of axillary, or side, branches. In intercalary inflorescences, the stem continues beyond the inflorescence, which may result in alternating fertile and sterile areas of the axis.

      Inflorescences can be distinguished by their growth patterns as determinate or indeterminate. In determinate inflorescences the first formed flower at the tip of the dominant stem matures first, and younger flowers develop on lower lateral branches; the cyme of the forget-me-not (Myosotis) is a typical example. In indeterminate inflorescences the growing region of the axis functions for extended periods so that as the older flowers mature and set fruit near the base of the inflorescence axis, younger buds develop and continue to expand into flowers at the apex. This is exemplified in the spikes of yucca and the racemes of delphinium, in which the youngest flowers are farthest away from the root. Other types of indeterminate inflorescences include umbels and capitula, or heads. The youngest flower is terminal or central in umbels and in heads.

      The head is the type of inflorescence that characterizes the composite, or aster family (Asteraceae). It may be few to many flowered and usually has at its base one or more series of leaflike bracts. The small individual flowers arise in spiral order on the receptacle, the youngest being at the centre. The basal calyx of each flower, known as a pappus, is bristle-like, scaly, or feathery and borne at the top of the ovary. The corolla, formed of the petals, may be: (1) tubular, with five petal lobes, sometimes split open; (2) ligulate, or tonguelike, with a very short basal tube; or (3) bilabiate, with the tube split into two tips. In some genera, all of the flowers are ligulate, whereas in others, the marginal flowers are ligulate (ray flowers) and the others tubular or all are tubular. The marginal ray flowers are either female (pistillate) or sterile. The tubular flowers are characterized by male and female parts: five united pollen-bearing stamens and a pistil, which matures as a one-seeded fruit (achene).

      The position of the floral organs with reference to each other and to the tip of the floral receptacle varies in different flowers; in some, the perianth (sepals and petals) and stamens are attached to the receptacle below the pistil; such flowers are hypogynous (e.g., buttercup and magnolia). In others (rose, cherry, peach), the perianth and stamens are borne on the rim of a concave structure in the depression of which the pistil is borne; such flowers are perigynous. Finally, there are flowers in which the ovary is enclosed by a tissue composed of the fused bases of the perianth and stamens (apple, pear, aster); the blossom seems to arise upon or above the ovary and is called epigynous.

      The stamen, seemingly the equivalent of the gymnospermous microsporophyll, consists of an anther (a group of two to four microsporangia) borne at the tip of a blade stalk, or filament. The pistil, most often composed of an enlarged basal ovary, a columnar style, and distal stigma, is the ovule-producing organ of the flower. It is often considered to have evolved from enfolded megasporophyll or some other ovuliferous structure with enclosed ovules (angiospermy); alternatively, it is thought to have arisen from the cuplike bracts of extinct seed-bearing plants on which the leafy bracts grew together and thus enclosed the ovules.

      There may be one or more pistils on the floral receptacle, depending on the species. Furthermore, pistils may be simple (composed of one ovule-bearing unit, megasporophyll, or carpel) or compound (composed of more than one carpel). Compound pistils are thought to have arisen as a result of crowding of simple pistils on the floral axis; for example, variation in the degree of fusion may be observed in members of the saxifrage family. The ovary—which matures as the fruit—usually reveals by the number of ovule-containing chambers (locules) the number of carpels it contains. The stigma is a specially adapted portion of the pistil modified for the reception of pollen. It may be feathery and branched or elongated, as in such wind-pollinated flowers as those of the grasses, or it may be compact and with a sticky surface. The ovary may contain one ovule (e.g., buckwheat, avocado), a few ovules (e.g., grape, bean) or a large number of ovules (tobacco, begonia, snapdragon).

      In some angiosperms (e.g., corn, hickory, walnut, pecan, oak) both types of imperfect flower are borne on the same plant, which is, therefore, called monoecious. By contrast, staminate flowers may occur on one plant and pistillate flowers on another, as in willows, poplars, and mulberries, which are said to be dioecious. In common parlance (and unfortunately in some botanical textbooks) staminate flowers and plants that bear them are often designated “male,” and pistillate flowers and the plants that bear them are called “female.” This may be traced back at least as far as to the time of Linnaeus (1753), who interpreted stamens and pistils as sex organs. Comparative morphology indicates clearly, however, that stamens and pistils are the spore-bearing structures of the sporophyte and not actually the gamete-bearing organs of the gametophyte. The terms “male” and “female,” applied to angiosperm plants and their flowers, is often condoned because the gametophytic phase is so condensed in angiosperms. The designations suggest to the uninitiated, however, that pollen grains and sperm, on the one hand, and eggs and ovules, on the other, are identical, which is not the case.

      Among the vast number of species of angiosperms there is considerable variation in floral organization. The perianth may be absent or present; clearly differentiated as calyx and corolla (e.g., pea); or the perianth segments may be similar (magnolia, tulip tree). The number of stamens and pistils may be large and separately attached to the receptacle in a spiral pattern (buttercup), or the numbers may be reduced and the attachment cyclic or whorled (lily). The stamens may be fused together by their anthers (daisy) or their filaments (peas, beans). The filaments may be petallike (water lilies) or stalklike. Opening of the anther may be by longitudinal or transverse fissures or by terminal pores.

      The reproductive cycle in angiosperms can be traced from before the shedding of pollen. The microspores begin their development of male gametophytes, which involves formation of a small generative cell and a tube cell. The generative cell may divide to form two sperm before the pollen grain (developing male gametophyte) is shed, or while the pollen tube is growing during germination. The pollen grains of angiosperms have variously, and often elaborately, ornamented walls characteristic of the species.

      Pollination in angiosperms is the transfer of the pollen grains from the anther of a stamen to the stigma of a pistil.

      The pistil of a flower may receive pollen from the stamens of the same flower, in self-pollination (e.g., peas and tomatoes). In many other flowers, however, pollen from one or more flowers is transferred to the stigmas of other flowers. A number of specialized relationships have evolved between floral organization and animal pollinators such as insects. (For a complete treatment of the processes and mechanisms of pollination in plants, see pollination.)

      In the majority of angiosperms one megasporocyte develops in the megasporangium (often called the nucellus) of the ovule, and a tetrad of megaspores is formed as a result of meiosis. Three megaspores (nearest the micropyle) degenerate; only one enlarges, and then undergoes divisions to form the eight-nucleate, seven-celled female gametophyte (“embryo sac”). Of the three cells of this gametophyte near the micropyle, one functions as an egg. As the pollen tube discharges its contents into the female gametophyte, the egg nucleus is fertilized by one of the sperm, the other unites with the two nuclei (polar nuclei) within the large central cell of the female gametophyte. The resultant nucleus, which has three sets of chromosomes, is the primary endosperm nucleus. This process, double fertilization, occurs only in angiosperms.

      Both pollination and fertilization stimulate cell division in the ovary, ovules, and zygotes, all of which enter upon a period of rapid enlargement. In most angiosperms, the primary endosperm nucleus divides to form endosperm tissue, the cells of which become filled with stored food, such as starches, oils, and proteins. As the rate of embryonic development decreases, the seeds of most angiosperms enter a period of dormancy (afterripening), accompanied by dehydration and hardening of the integuments, which form seed coats. At this period, the enlarged ovary (and sometimes adjacent structures) matures as fruit. (For further discussion of the form, function, and development of seeds and fruits, see seed and fruit.)

      Angiosperm seeds may germinate as soon as they reach maturity, or they may undergo various kinds of dormancy. In some cases (e.g., coconut) the embryo is rudimentary and undifferentiated when the seed is shed, so that a period of preparation, or after-ripening, is required. In other types of dormancy, germination is retarded by the hardness and impermeability of the seed coat or by special requirements of light, temperature, and moisture.

      Some representative variations occur in the reproductive process of angiosperms. In violets ( Viola), in addition to the ordinary flowers produced first during the usual flowering season, less conspicuous flowers later develop; called cleistogamous flowers, they do not open but are self-pollinated, thus insuring augmentation of the population during a period less favourable for the usual blossoms.

      The pollen grains of most angiosperms separate from each other, but in some cases (e.g., Rhododendron) they remain attached in original groups of four, called tetrads. The very tiny pollen grains of orchids, certain mimosas, and milkweeds are clustered in waxy masses called pollinia (singular pollinium).

      A number of variations in pattern of development of the female gametophyte occur in various angiosperms; for example, in certain species of evening primrose (Oenothera), the female gametophyte contains only four nuclei, whereas, in Peperomia, as many as 16 may be present. In lily, all four megaspore nuclei are involved in the formation of the female gametophyte.

      Pollen may germinate immediately after contact with a stigma (sugar cane), within five minutes (corn), in two hours (beet), or after one or two days. The pollen grains of most plants produce only one pollen tube, but ten or more pollen tubes have been observed to develop from one pollen grain in plants of the mallow family. The pollen tubes usually enter through the micropyle (porogamy), but they may also enter through the base of the ovule (chalazogamy).

      The interval between pollination and fertilization varies. It may be as long as 12 to 14 months in certain species of oak, five to seven months in witch hazel; two to 20 weeks among the orchids; three to four hours in lettuce and as little as 15 to 45 minutes in dandelions.

      The postfertilization endosperm fails to develop in orchid seeds but is present at least during early embryogeny in most others. The endosperm may arise by nuclear divisions and become cellular as nuclear divisions terminate, or its development may involve both nuclear and cell divisions from the beginning. In a number of cases (e.g., legumes) the embryo consumes the endosperm during its development, resulting in mature seeds with massive embryos and no endosperm. Most angiosperm embryos have two seed leaves (are dicotyledonous), some have one lateral cotyledon (are monocotyledonous), and a few (e.g., Degeneria) have three to four cotyledons.

      In seed germination, the cotyledons may remain below the soil surface within the seed (hypogean germination) and may function in digesting and absorbing endosperm (corn), may serve as sources of stored food themselves (pea), or may rise above the soil surface (epigean germination) by elongation of the hypocotyl, the embryonic axis between the root, the growing stem, or epicotyl. Cotyledons that emerge above the soil may wither and drop off as their food is used (e.g., bean), or they may persist and function as photosynthetic leaves (e.g., castor bean).

      An even greater range of variation occurs in angiospermous fruits. The fruit may arise from one pistil (simple or compound) of one flower (i.e., the simple fruits of pea and peach), from several pistils of one flower (i.e., the aggregate fruits of strawberry and raspberry), or from the pistils of several flowers (i.e., the multiple fruits of pineapple, mulberry, and corn). Simple fruits may be dry (legumes) or fleshy (peach, apple, tomato) at maturity. Dry fruits may open (dehisce; many legumes) or remain closed about the seed (be indehiscent; grasses and sunflower).

      The manner of ovular attachment is known as placentation. The ovary may contain one to many ovules, which may be attached to the ovary wall (parietal placentation) or to the central axis (axial, or free-central placentation). Despite these and other variations in the morphology of flower parts, the reproductive process is, with minor diversities, remarkably uniform.

Variations in reproductive cycles

      The life cycles and reproductive processes described above characterize the vast majority of their respective plant groups.

      Among the liverworts it has been demonstrated that small fragments of the stalk of the sporophyte are capable of regenerating diploid gametophytes. In the mosses, both haploid and diploid apospory have been experimentally evoked. As in the liverworts, injury and regeneration of fragments of the sporophytic seta result in diploid gametophytes. By contrast, fragments of moss leaves, stems, and rhizoids (and even the sterile tissues of the sex organs) can regenerate haploid gametophytes.

      In certain strains of mosses, the gametophyte can give rise to clusters of presumably haploid sporophytes without the functioning of gametes; such apogamous formation of sporophytes may also be chemically induced (by application of a solution containing a specific amount of chloral hydrate to both the protonema and leafy shoots).

      Among the vascular plants both natural and induced apogamy and apospory are known. In certain ferns, gametophytes may develop at the leaf margins or in sori from transformed sporangia. Certain other ferns reproduce apogamously in nature; thus, for example, in the holly fern (Crytomium falcatum), the gametophytes give rise directly to sporophytes by nuclear and cell division on vegetative cells of the gametophyte. In almost every group, however, variations of the usual reproductive process occur. These may involve substitution of asexual reproduction for sexual or the direct production of plants by cells other than the usual ones ( apomixis). Apomictic phenomena—which are in the strictest sense asexual—include apospory, in which the gametophyte phase is produced without the need of spores, and apogamy, in which the sporophyte phase is produced without the need of gametes, or sex cells.

      Apogamy may be induced in normally sexual ferns by withholding water from the gametophytes, which prevents the liberation and functioning of sperm. Similarly, when gametophytes are grown in inorganic culture media supplemented by a variety of sugars, they produce sporophytes apogamously. Colourless roots removed from the bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) have been induced to develop diploid gametophytes aposporously, as have the injured juvenile leaves of a number of ferns.

      Apomictic phenomena occur also among many angiosperms. In some species, haploid sporophytes may develop either from the unfertilized egg or from some other cell of the gametophyte. Such apogamy occurs, for example, after stimulation of one species with the pollen of a related one (e.g., Solanum nigrum by the pollen of S. luteum). Apogamy involving an unfertilized egg (a phenomenon termed parthenogenesis) occurs in certain orchids. Male parthenogenesis, or the production of a sporophyte from a sperm, has been detected in tobacco hybrids. Finally, a form of haploid apogamy is known in which a cell of the female gametophyte other than an egg may develop into an embryo.

      In certain species of hawkweed, the embryo develops from a certain cell of the ovule or the megasporangium. In others, the female gametophyte is diploid through an impairment of the meiotic process; in this case, the egg (diploid parthenogenesis) or one of the related cells may form an embryo. In citrus trees a number of embryos (polyembryony) arise from diploid cells of the megasporangium or integuments.

Physiology of plant reproduction

      The maturation of sporophytes and gametophytes, as manifested by their ability to produce spores and gametes respectively, involves both internal and environmental factors. With respect to the former, the organism must have completed a certain minimum period of vegetative development before environmental factors are able to stimulate formation of spores and gametes.

      Among environmental factors affecting reproduction, the duration, intensity, and quality of light, as well as temperature, have primary roles; for example, the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha continues in the vegetative state indefinitely under daily fluorescent illumination of 16 hours. Control plants exposed to daily incandescent lighting of 16 hours become sexually mature after 30 days. Addition of the sugar sucrose hastens the development of the sexual phase, an indication that chemical factors also play a role. In hornworts (e.g., Anthoceros and Phaeoceros), antheridia develop under daily light periods (photoperiods) of four to 12 hours; none develop when the plants are illuminated for longer periods.

      Temperature also affects sexual maturation. In mosses, for example, initiation of sex organs in bacteria-free laboratory cultures of Funaria occurs at 10° C (50° F) when cultures are illuminated six, 12, or 20 hours daily. On the other hand, the moss Polytrichum is seemingly not affected by duration of light but forms sex organs best at 21° C (70° F).

      Among vascular cryptogams little is known about the various environmental factors that affect development of sex organs in nature, and, except for certain ferns and horsetails, experimental studies of rigidly controlled laboratory cultures are lacking. It has been shown that laboratory cultures of gametophytes of certain horsetails derived from single spores produce sex organs 40 to 60 days after the spores germinate. In horsetails generally, conditions favouring vegetative growth evoke a preponderance of initially female gametophytes; less favourable conditions induce the production of male gametophytes.

      Considerable information is available about the physiology of reproduction in ferns, especially with respect to the gametophyte generation. Spore germination occurs if adequate moisture is present and in temperatures between 15° and 35° C (59° and 95° F). The spores germinate and the young gametophytes do best under neutral or slightly acid conditions. Most fern spores require light for germination. Some fern spores remain viable for as long as 20 years.

      Spores germinating in darkness or in the absence of blue wavelengths of light remain in the protonemal, or filamentous, condition. Growth to the mature gametophyte requires light of blue wavelengths in most species.

      An interesting aspect of fern reproductive physiology was the discovery that antheridial production is under hormonal control. Several types of antheridium-evoking substances (hormones (hormone)) have been recognized, and there is some evidence that they are specific. The sperm of ferns are attracted chemically to the vicinity of the maturing archegonia, where they become trapped in extruded mucilage. Although only one sporophyte usually develops on a gametophyte, as many as five may be induced to form if the gametophyte is repeatedly exposed to sperm.

      The preceding paragraphs, dealing with vascular cryptogams, have emphasized the influence of environmental factors on the expression of sexual reproduction; the remaining account deals with the angiosperms. Because the gametophytic phase of angiosperms is abbreviated and because it is parasitic on the sporophyte, the maturation of the sporophyte, as manifested by flowering, has received more intensive study in angiosperms than has that of the gametophyte.

      Angiosperms that complete their life cycles within one growing season (in the temperate zone) are known as annuals (annual). Perhaps the shortest angiospermous life cycle known is that of Plantago insularis, a southern California species, that can grow from seed to the production of its own seed in four to six weeks under domestication; the cycle of most annuals, however, is longer. A number of angiosperms are biennial in the temperate zone: they grow vegetatively for one season, but their flowering and seed production are delayed until a second growing season, after which the plants die (e.g., beets, carrots). Still other angiosperms are perennial: they continue growing, flowering, and producing seeds for a number of growing seasons (e.g., irises, roses, oaks).

      It has been demonstrated that duration and wavelength of light are of paramount importance in controlling the flowering of angiosperms. Based on extensive experimental studies, flowering plants have been classified as “long-day,” “short-day,” or “day-neutral” with respect to their requirements of light (photoperiodism) for flowering.

      Temperature also plays an important role in flowering. Thus, members of the cabbage family can be grown without flowering when high enough temperatures are maintained. A number of perennial and biennial plants (bulbous plants, beets) require a prior period of low temperature before they flower. In addition to internal (i.e., genetic factors), therefore, temperature and light are of paramount importance for many plants in evoking maturation.

      Several other physiological aspects of reproduction in angiosperms are noteworthy. Once transported to the stigma, the germination of the pollen grains is markedly affected by the chemical composition of the stigmatic exudate; e.g., pollen of an unrelated species will not germinate on the stigma. There is evidence also that the directional growth of the pollen tubes through the style toward the ovular micropyle is stimulated by a chemical substance produced by the style, ovules, and probably other tissues of the pistil.

      It is also clear that both pollination and fertilization have physiological effects on fruit production. In a number of cases pollination alone (not followed by fertilization) is sufficient stimulus to evoke enlargement of the pistil to form a seedless (parthenocarpic) fruit. This phenomenon occurs in the banana and in certain varieties of citrus fruits, grapes, and cucumbers. parthenocarpy can also be induced by exposure of the stigma to indoleacetic acid, naphthoxyacetic acid, indole butyric acid, naphthaleneacetic acid, or other synthetic hormones. The hormone gibberellin is effective in producing seedless grapes and is the active component in preparations used to prevent premature dropping of fruit.

      Also significant in the reproduction of flowering plants are the phenomena of self-sterility and self-incompatibility, which prevail in certain plants with perfect flowers (having both stamens and pistils). Pollen from one flower or from another flower of the same plant or from a plant with identical genetic constitution, when applied to the stigma, fails to germinate or grows so slowly that fertilization does not occur. For example, sweet cherries are self-incompatible: a number of groups of genetically intrasterile types are known, but cross-pollination of trees of different genetic groups results in fruit production. Self-incompatibility occurs also in certain strains of garden plants and in plum, apple, pear, and tobacco.

      Self-sterility, usually associated with differences in chromosome number, often occurs in hybrids from widely divergent parents. This is true of cultivated varieties of blackberry and raspberry. Such chromosomal imbalance creates irregularities in meiosis during formation of the pollen, which results in infertility.

Harold C. Bold

* * *