Q.The capacity to reproduce by vegetative propagation: Root - Sweet potato, Asparagus, Dahlia. Leaf - Bryophyllum, Kalanchoe, Begonia, etc. Stem - rhizome (turmeric), tubers (potato), bulbs (onion), etc. How does vegetative propagation occur in nature?

The box lists the three vegetative organs that propagate plants naturally and asks how the process happens. …

The three organs named in the box propagate plants in three slightly different ways:

• Roots: sweet potato, asparagus and dahlia have swollen storage roots on which adventitious buds arise; when a root piece is separated (or the parent dies back) each bud grows into a shoot and the piece becomes a new plant.
• Leaves: the margins of the leaves of Bryophyllum, Kalanchoe and Begonia carry notches with meristematic tissue; small plantlets with roots form in the notches, drop to the soil and grow.
• Stems: modified, food-storing stems bear dormant buds, the underground rhizome of turmeric, the tuber of potato (its eyes are buds) and the bulb of onion; each can produce an independent plant. …