What is a Plant Life Cycle?

Plants🌱 Life Cycle. 

As plants grow and reproduce as any other living being does, they are indeed living things. They commence a new life, grow and develop, and return to the first reproduction stage by following a cyclic process. The life of the plants commences from the seed form, which matures to become grown-up plants.

Stages of Plant’s Life Cycle

The life cycle of plants starts from the seed form, which is buried in the ground through different methods. It germinates and gives rise to the first leaves known as seedlings. Following this, the growth of the plant continues, and it reaches a mature stage. Then it pollinates, seeds are formed, and that species gets an opportunity to continue survival by commencing the life cycle again. There are five main stages to the plant life cycle: 

Seed

Germination and Seedling

Becoming mature

Growing flowers and seeds and undergoing pollination

Dispersion of seeds

SEED – 1st Stage

Seeds can be compared to human babies as they contain the plant embryo, which has the much-needed food and an outer protective coat. There are many ways by which seeds are dispersed across the land, including water, moving air, humans, and other animals. When they assimilate the necessary things, like water and the ideal temperature, and fall on the favourable soil, they germinate and commence their life journey.

Germination and Seedling – 2nd Stage

When the soil conditions are ideal, the seed begins to germinate. It first breaks the outer coat and starts growing its first leaves and roots. Once the first life sign from a seed shows up out of the soil, it is referred to as a seedling. When the leaves and roots develop, they start functioning. The roots carry out their role of absorbing water and nutrients, while the leaves carry out photosynthesis to produce food. 

Growing to maturity –

Many things are needed during the life cycle of a plant while it’s growing. When the plant matures, it has to develop sturdier roots and also increase its leaves and branches. They can develop flowers and seeds at this stage.Flowering, 

Pollinating, and Seeding – 4th stage

Once plants mature, they can develop flowers. A flower of the lifecycle of a flowering plant has the male reproductive parts and the female reproductive parts of the plant. The male sexual part of the plant is referred to as stamen, while the female sexual part is referred to as pistil. The stamen part of the flower produces pollen grains. The seeds of the plant develop in the pistil part of the flower. Typically, the pollen grains go to pistils with the help of insects that visit flowers to suck on their sweet juices. When the pollen grains come in contact with the pistils, fertilisation occurs, and seeds are formed. The male and female parts of many plants are separated very far away. In their case, pollination is mainly facilitated by the winds and insects. The winds often carry the pollen grains to the female reproductive parts. Insects also wander from one plant to another to suck their sweet juices. After they enter a flower, pollen grains get attached to the surface of their bodies, so when they visit the female parts of a flower, pollen grains land there. 

The parts of the flower

Did you think that flowers were just a pretty-looking bunch of petals? Well, they are! But they are also much more complex, having different parts, all specialised to carry out specific functions. 

The inside of the flower contains the male reproductive part and the female reproductive part, which help it to reproduce. Let us look at all the parts of the flower closely. 

Petal: It is the colourful part of the flower whose function is to attract insects.

Stamen: It is the male reproductive part of the plant.

Anther: It is that part of the flower that forms pollen grains.

Filament: It is the structure that gives support to the anther.

Pistil: It is the female reproductive portion of the flower. 

Stigma: It is the part of the flower that collects pollen grains.

Style: It lets the pollen grains travel to the ovary.

Ovary: It is the female reproductive part of the flower that gives rise to seeds on the inside of the ‘ovules.’

Sepal: It is the part that appears on the exterior of the petals. Its function is to safeguard the flower when it is unopened.

Receptacle: It is the part of the flower that attaches it to the plant stem.

Pedicel: It is a stalk whose function is to support one flower.

Seed Dispersion – 5th Stage

When the seeds are produced, plants look for a way to disperse them to those places where they can undergo germination and commence their plant life cycle. This job is done by nature, that is, water, moving air, and animals, most of the time. Some plants have seeds covered by fibres that help them glide in the air when they fall from the plant. When gliding, they cover long distances and commence their life far from the parent plants.