Reproduction:
The Dracula orchid produces via pollination,
like all flowering plants, or angiosperms. Because the Dracula
orchid is a land plant, it undergoes an alternation of generations
life cycle. An alternation of generations life cycle is define by
having both sporophyte and gametophyte adult multi-cellular
organisms. This life cycle is called alternation of generations
because it undergoes both asexual and sexual reproductive stages.
The diagram below shows how this process works:
First, the multi-cellular diploid (2n or 2 sets of chromosomes) sporophyte produces haploid (n or a single set of chromosomes)
spores via meiosis. There are two types of spores, megaspores, which
grow into female gametophytes and microspores, which grow into male
gametophytes. The male gametophyte produces sperm and the female
gametophyte produces eggs. The egg and the sperm then unite. This is
called fertilization. Fertilization creates a diploid embryo, which
grows into the sporophyte, and the cycle then repeats.
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