One morning as Paheli strolled in her garden she noticed many small plants which were not there a week ago. She wondered where they had come from as nobody had planted them there. Explain the reason for the growth of these plants.
Sometimes, plants grow without a human support. New plants are produced from seeds or from vegetative parts. The seeds developed in the parent plant are dispersed to different locations by various agents, like wind, water, animals or insects. When these seeds get sufficient resources, they start to germinate to form new plants.
Moreover, new plants can grow through vegetative propagation also. In the case of Bryophyllum plant, the leaves contain ‘buds’ which can grow into new Bryophyllum plants. These leaves could fall from the parent plant, into the soil. In a suitable environment, the buds develop into new plants.
This explains the presence of many small plants in Paheli’s garden.