Other Methods of Propagation

Plants can be propagated by means other than seeds. In fact, some cultivated varieties do not even produce seeds. Bananas, pineapple, and sugar cane are always propagated by vegetative means. While potatoes produce seeds, seeds are not used in furnishing the marketplace with potatoes. If seeds were used, the product would in fact be undesirable.

Some species of horticultural plants have separate sexes when only one sex is desirable. The female Ginkgo tree, for example, produces “fruits’” that are a nuisance because they are malodorous. Female poplar trees give forth clouds of seeds that look like snow and collect in drifts on the ground. In such cases, asexual means of reproduction are used to obtain only the desired sex.