VEGETATIVE REPRODUCTION 
ii3 
the parent, no reserves are needed, the parent feeding it till 
it is capable of independent existence. 
Vegetative reproduction is certain, effective, and econo- 
mical ; the profusion of such plants as daisies, buttercups, 
raspberries, hyacinths, is largely due to it. Its chief disad- 
vantage is the loss of the benefits of fertilisation. 
It is well-known that in a sense the vegetative and 4 true ’ 
reproductive activities of a plant are antagonistic (see p. 103). 
If a plant is growing in rich soil or in the shade, the vege- 
tative activity is favoured, whereas when vegetative growth 
is checked, the plant tends to flower more. Excessive 
vegetative activity tends to favour vegetative reproduction 
at the expense of the sexual method. Vochting has shown 
by direct experiment that reduced light favours vegetative 
multiplication. 
It is rare for the root to give rise to a shoot ; vegetative 
reproduction generally consists in the detachment of a shoot- 
structure, with or without roots. It is almost confined to 
herbaceous plants ; comparatively few trees are thus propa- 
gated. 
The simple detachment of a branch, not in any way modified in 
structure, is common in water-plants, and in plants with rhizomes. 
Special branches for vegetative propagation are the runners of Fragaria, 
Ranunculus, Agropyron, Ajuga, Nephrolepis, &c. , the suckers of 
Gesneriaceae, Epilobium, Rubus, Agave, Sempervivum, Salicaceae, &c. 
Bulbs, corms, tubers, &c. (Chap. III.) all lend themselves readily to 
this mode of propagation. Similar structures appear above ground in 
many plants, and are then primarily reproductive ; such are the bulbils 
or little bulbs of Lycopodium, Agave, Lilium, Allium, Remusatia, 
Gagea, Dentaria, Oxalis, &c., which usually appear in place of flowers, 
in the inflorescence, the tubers of Begonia, Globba, Polygonum, &c., 
the young plants that appear by budding of tissues in Asplenium, 
Cardamine, Bertolonia, Begonia, Rubus, Chlorophytum, Crassula, 
Sinningia, &c. 
The disadvantageous tendency in vegetative multiplication is that the 
offspring shall be so closely crowded together as to cause a severe com- 
petition between themselves and between them and the parent. To avoid 
this danger there are several methods, as seen in seed -reproduction. In 
water-plants the detached branches or buds are carried away by the water. 
Many detached parts are carried off by birds for nest-making, e.g. in Til- 
landsia usneoides ; others have arrangements for adhering to animals, e.g. 
the hooked bulbils of Remusatia, the branches of Mammillaria, &c. The 
nodes of Panicum and other grasses pass through the alimentary canals 
8 
w. 
