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Leaves that Sprout Plants
These plants reproduce by copying themselves.
Looking closely at the leaves of kalanchoe plants, you can see tiny sprouts growing from the leaf edges. Each of these plantlets can grow into a clone—a genetic copy of the parent plant.
Where: Gallery 4: Living Systems
What’s going on?
Many plants, including kalanchoe, can reproduce in two ways: asexually by sprouting plantlets, or sexually by making flowers and seeds. Making plantlets uses less energy, but sex creates diverse offspring, increasing the odds that some will survive hard times.
Phenomena:
Reproduction
Keywords:
fragmentation
Aliases:
Creating Life With Just One Parent, Kalanchoe, Leaves That Sprout
More to explore
Three Ways to Make a New Plant
Learn how grafting, hybridizing, and transgenics have transformed cultivation.
Making Heads and Tails of Planaria
The water-dwelling planaria can lose its head and regrow a new one.
Related exhibits
This web project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services [MA-30-16-0175-16].
