Asexual Reproduction in Plants

Several species of plants naturally show asexual reproduction as an obligate or facultative mode of reproduction. Artificially, several economically important plant species are asexually reproduced to rapidly increase their number. Leaves, tubers, bulbs, stems, branches, buds, rhizomes, roots, spores, etc. are used for asexual reproduction in plants. 

A. Natural Methods

1. Budding: e.g., in potato, banana, bamboo, sugarcane, apple, pear, cherry, etc., can grow from a bud.
2. Vegetative Propagation: e.g. in Bryophyllum, strawberry, sugarcane, roses, banana, sweet potato, yam, onion, garlic, money plant, etc. are cultivated via this method.
3. Sporulation: it is seen in fern, moss, liverwort, and algae.
4. Fragmentation: it is seen in algae like Spirogyra.
5. Apomixis: it is seen in hawthorn, blackberries, ferns, dandelion, etc.

B. Artificial Methods

1. Micropropagation and Tissue Culture: these modern techniques include the use of plant cells and/or tissues for the production of a large number of offspring in a laboratory. It is based on the principle of vegetative totipotency of plant cells. Several flowers, ornamental plants, crops like bananas, strawberries, pineapple, etc, are grown by tissue culture technique.  
2. Grafting: it is a technique of uniting two different related plants and growing them together as a single plant. It is commonly used in horticulture for cultivating fruits like pear, apple, cherry, almonds, oranges, etc. 
3. Layering: it is a technique where a stem/branch of a plant is covered with soil and influenced for root formation. It is a traditional method used for propagating flowers and fruits like strawberry, raspberry, mango, lemon, camellia, etc. 
4. Cutting: it is a process where cut pieces of plants are used for propagation. Plants like money plants, sugarcane, coleus, bamboo, rose plant, etc. are cultivated by this method.