Q.Which one of the following organisms reproduces sexually only once in its life time?

This question tests your understanding of reproductive strategies in plants, specifically monocarpy versus polycarpy.

Most flowering plants are polycarpic — they produce flowers and fruits repeatedly throughout their life span. Mango, tomato, and eucalyptus all flower and fruit multiple times once they reach maturity, year after year. …

The question asks us to identify an organism that reproduces sexually only once in its lifetime—a reproductive strategy called semelparity or monocarpic behaviour in plants. This stands in contrast to iteroparity (polycarpic plants), where organisms reproduce multiple times across their lifespan.

Let's examine each option through the lens of their reproductive patterns:

Banana is botanically unusual. The banana "tree" is actually a giant herbaceous plant, not a true tree. Each pseudostem (the apparent trunk) grows from an underground corm, produces leaves, flowers once, bears fruit, and then dies. However, the corm itself survives and sends up new shoots (suckers), so the genetic individual persists. The individual aerial shoot is monocarpic—it fruits once and dies—but the plant as a whole continues through vegetative propagation. In strict botanical terms, each flowering shoot exhibits semelparous behaviour.

Mango is a classic polycarpic perennial tree. Once mature, a mango tree flowers and fruits year after year for decades, sometimes over a century. It reproduces sexually multiple times throughout its long life.

Tomato is typically grown as an annual in cultivation, but it's actually a perennial plant in its native habitat. Even as an annual crop, a single tomato plant flowers repeatedly throughout the growing season, setting fruit multiple times. It is decidedly polycarpic.

Eucalyptus trees are long-lived perennials that flower and produce seeds repeatedly over many years, often decades. They are polycarpic woody plants. …

Apply a single test to each option: does the individual plant die immediately after its FIRST flowering and fruiting event, or does it go on to flower agai …