propagation, the reproduction of a plant, whether by sexual or asexual means. Sexual propagation means reproduction by seed and involves the combination of two separate sets of chromosomes, one from the male (pollen) and the other from the female (the egg cell inside the ovule); their fusion during fertilization produces an individual with a set of genes different from its two parents. Asexual or vegetative propagation means reproduction without seed, by taking vegetative bits of the parent plant and getting them to form shoots and roots; the progeny are genetically identical to the parent unless mutations produce distinct clones.
