New plants without seeds
Find which part of twelve plants, from potato, ginger and sugarcane to sweet potato and bryophyllum, is planted to grow a new plant, and sort them by stem, root or leaf.
Core concept
Many plants make new plants from a stem, a root or a leaf, without seeds; this vegetative propagation gives plants exactly like the parent, quickly
Topic: Reproduction in plants
Most plants grow from seeds, but many can also make new plants from other parts: this is vegetative propagation. A stem can do it: the eyes on a potato are buds, a piece of ginger (an underground stem called a rhizome) sprouts, and a cutting of sugarcane or rose grows roots from its nodes. Onions grow from bulbs, bananas from suckers and mint from runners. Some roots can do it too: a sweet potato or a dahlia root sprouts new shoots. Even leaves can: bryophyllum grows tiny plants from buds along its leaf edges. Plants made this way grow faster than from seed and are exactly like the parent, which is why farmers and gardeners use it.
What you will learn
- Explain vegetative propagation.
- Name plants grown from a stem, a root or a leaf.
- Give two advantages of vegetative propagation.
Before you start
- Know the parts of a plant.
Materials
- A potato with eyes, a piece of ginger, an onion and a bryophyllum leaf
- Pots with moist soil
Equipment
- A small knife, used by your teacher
Procedure
- Pick a plant card and find which part is planted.
- Do this for at least six plants.
- Sort every plant by the part a new plant grows from.