PLANT REPRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
LIFE CYCLE OF PLANTS
Generalized life cycle
Different types of life cycle
I. Haplontic Life Cycle
- Life cycle of ______
- Its dominant stage is a multicellular haploid stage which
produces gametes that eventually fuse to form unicellular
zygotes. Each zygote then undergoes meiosis to become
haploid, after which it undergoes mitosis to become the
multicellular organism.
II. Haplodiplontic life cycle
- Life cycle of a _________
- It has a multicellular haploid (gametophyte) stage that
produces gametes. These gametes fuse to produce a zygote
that undergoes mitosis to produce a multicellular sporophyte.
Within a part of the sporophyte called the capsule, cells
undergo meiosis to produce __________. These spores are
eventually released and germinate by dividing mitotically to
become a multicellular gametophyte.
III. Diplontic life cycle
Type of life cycle found in -__________ (and in most
animals). The organism is in the diploid stage ( all cells
are diploid in chromosome number) except for mature,
haploid sex cells which are called gametes.
PLANT REPRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT

The Flower - – reproductive organ of angiosperms B. Female gametophyte - The megasporangium in the ovule
Consists of four whorls of floral parts (Sepals, petals, stamen and contains megasporocytes. One megasporocyte will undergo
pistil) meiosis to produce four haploid megaspores three
megaspores degenerate remaining megaspore divides
Morphology:
mitotically three times, an
a. Essential (Fertile) Parts embryo sac with eight haploid nuclei membranes partition to
- Stamen with anther and filament make the embryo sac multicellular
- Carpels with stigma, style, and ovary II. Pollination
b. Non-essential (sterile) parts - Transfer of pollen grain from the anther to the
 Petals stigma
 Sepals - May be animal-aided or wind-aided
III. Double fertilization
Floral Variations
Sperm nucleus (n) + egg nucleus (n) -------- zygote (2n) 
a. Presence or absence of floral parts
Sperm nucleus (n) + 2 polar nuclei (2n) ------ endosperm (3n)
Complete – having the 4 floral whorls eg. Hibiscus
IV. Embryo Development
Incomplete – any of the 4 whorls is lacking eg. Cucurbita
V. Maturation of ovary and ovule
b. Presence or absence of fertile parts
VI. Seed germination
Perfect – flowers having stamens and pistils (bisexual) eg.
A. Transformation of seed to seedling
Hibiscus
B. Types of seed germination
Imperfect – unisexual; either staminate or pistillate
i. Epigeal germination occurs when the cotyledon
o Both flowers on one plant – monoecious eg.
Cucurbita emerges above ground, thereby exposing the
o On different plants – dioecious eg. Carica hypocotyl of the plumule.
ii. Hypogeal germination occurs when the
Development in flowering plants cotyledon remains below ground, thereby
concealing the hypocotyl.
I. Gametophyte - Development through gametogenesis
A. Male gametophyte - The microsporangium in the anther
contains numerous microsporocytes. Each microsporocyte
will undergo meiosis to produce four haploid microspores
each microspore develops into a pollen grain (containing two
sperm nuclei
and one tube nucleus)