REPRODUCTION IN PLANTS AND ANIMALS 373 



in the soil, it may continue its growth and eventually produce 

 flowers and seeds which continue the round of reproduction. 



384. Vegetative reproduction. Many plants and animals are 

 able to have individuals arise directly from the old individual 

 without the production of a fertilized egg (fig. 175). It is 

 possible to cut a twig from a willow or cottonwood tree, 

 place it hi the ground, and have it grow into a new tree. 

 One may also take cuttings or slips from geraniums, coleuses, 

 and begonias, and plant 

 them so that they will 

 grow into new plants. 

 Grapevines are started 

 by means of cuttings. 

 The original Concord 

 grapevine has become 

 the parent of millions 

 of grapevines scattered 

 through the civilized 

 world, and this has 

 been brought about 

 entirely by cuttings 

 from the single original grapevine or by cuttings from its 

 descendants. This kind of reproduction of individuals is 

 known as vegetative reproduction, because the growing plant 

 is used directly as the means of establishing new individuals. 



Different forms of grafting are in a sense types of vegeta- 

 tive reproduction, since they consist in making cuttings from 

 one plant and getting them started to grow upon another 

 plant. It will be found interesting to read agricultural and 

 horticultural books on the subject of grafting, to determine 

 what may be accomplished thereby. 



FIG. 175. Vegetative propagation in the 

 raspberry 



The ends of the shoots strike root in the earth 

 and grow new plants 



