Sexual Reproduction in Plants

This type of reproduction only occurs in flowering plants which produce female and male sex cells.

For the male sex cell to reach the female sex cell there is often pollination. This is the process by which a pollen grain containing the male sex cell is transferred to the stigma of another plant. After this transfer has occurred, the male sex cell needs to get to the female sex cell. The process by which the two sex cells fuse is known as fertilization, and it occurs after a pollen tube is formed which channels the male sex cell down through the style, into the ovary, then into the ovule where fertilization will take place.

The cell formed after fertilization occurs is known as a zygote. The cells forming the zygote will continue to divide and produce identical daughter cells. Once fertilization occurs, the ovary forms the fruit and the ovule- the seed. The seed can then germinate and become a new plant.