SEXUAL REPRODUCTION IN

PLANTS

Advantages
Often Less Expensive
Genetic Diversity
Easy to Spread

Disadvantages
Some seeds are hard to grow
Never 100% sure of what you will end up with

Key Structures in Angiosperms

Flowers
Fruits
Seeds

FLOWERS

Flowers
Reproductive Organ
of the Plant
Stamen produces
Pollen
Pistil produces Ovules

Grain/Grass Flower

POLLINATION

Pollination
The transfer of pollen from a stamen to the ovules
in a pistil (Angiosperms).
The transfer of pollen from a male cone to the
ovules in a female cone (Gymnosperms).

Pollination
Self-Pollination
when ovules are
pollinated by the plant
that produced it
Cross-Pollination
when ovules are
pollinated by a plant
other than the one
that produced it

Pollination
Many fruit trees
require crosspollination from
another variety of the
same fruit to ensure
the most genetic
diversity.

Insect Pollination

Bird Pollination

Mammal
Pollination

Australian Honey Possum

Wind Pollination

Hand Pollination

Corpse Flower

When Pollination Happens

Ovules are fertilized now called seeds
Ovary begins to swell as seed mature

FRUIT

Fruit
Is the swollen ovary
of a plant
Contains seeds and
often stored food

Fruit Structure
The basic, 3-layer structure shared by all fruits:
Pericarp the thickened wall of fruit that
encases & protects the seed
Exocarp skin/outermost layer
Mesocarp pulp
Endocarp pit

Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Source: http://encarta.msn.com/media_461543454
/Fruit_Structure.html

Fruit Structure

Common Fruit Types

SEEDS

Worlds Largest
coco du mer Coconut

Parts of the Seed

Seed Coat protective shell
Endosperm where most food for the seed is
stored in monocots
Embryo the little plant inside
Cotyledons the seed leaves, where all the food
is stored in dicots

Parts of the Seed

Spread of
Seeds
Wind
Water
Animal

Spread of Seeds: Wind

Spread of Seeds: Water

Spread of Seeds: Animal

Germination
The sprouting of the
seed

Germination
Requires proper:
Light/Dark
Temperature
Oxygen
Moisture

Moisture
Stimulates
chemical reactions
and growth

Oxygen
Cell respiration needs O2
Cell respiration converts sugar & starch
to energy

Light
Some seeds need
total darkness
Some need light

Temperature

Most seeds need

60o 80o F

Germination
Stratification
when a seed
must be
exposed to cold
before it can
germinate.

Germination
Scarification
when the seed
coat must be
broken down
chemically or
mechanically

Example: Lupines

Key Structures in
Gymnosperms
Cones
Seeds

Cones
Cones can be male or
female
Sexually reproduce

Cones
Pollen is produced in
male cones

Seeds
Ovules develop
in female cones

Seeds
After pollination,
seeds develop
in female cones

Seeds
After pollination,
seeds develop
in female cones

Seeds
After pollination,
seeds develop
in female cones

Recap
Seeds
Often Less Expensive
Genetic Diversity
Easy to Spread

Key Structures
Flowers
Fruits
Seeds
Cones

Key Terms
Angiosperm
Gymnosperm
Pollination
Germination