Reproduction Trends

Plant development is a complex process that involves various stages such as division, growth, and differentiation. Important structures in plant development include buds, shoots, roots, leaves, and flowers. Plants produce these tissues and structures throughout their life from meristems located at the tips of organs, or between mature tissues. The stages that plants go through are from seed to sprout, then through vegetative, budding, flowering, and ripening stages. In addition, young trees will produce longer, leaner branches that grow upwards more than the branches they will produce as a fully grown tree. Leaves produced during early growth tend to be larger, thinner, and more irregular than leaves on the adult plant. Plants are important as they take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and produce oxygen, make up the base of the food web, and always have embryonic tissues.