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Glite Dictionary
🌱 Of plants 🌿 Asexual reproduction
vegetal

vegetal

9.3
Reproducing without sex, for example when plants grow from cuttings
  • adjective
  • /ˈvɛdʒɪtəl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : vegetal
  • Vegetal propagation allows gardeners to clone plants from cuttings rather than seeds.

Examples

  • Yeast cells can divide through vegetal reproduction, creating genetically identical offspring.

  • Some algae undergo vegetal reproduction, bypassing the need for fertilization.

  • The vegetal reproduction of ferns is fascinating.

  • Can you explain how vegetal reproduction works?

  • Vegetal reproduction in certain plants can occur by sprouting new shoots from their roots.

  • Some succulents can thrive through vegetal reproduction by producing offsets.

  • In nature, vegetal propagation allows a single plant to grow and spread over a wide area.

Synonyms

asexual
vsvegetal
  • Specialized
3 6.4

Not involving sexual activity, for example when plants or fungi reproduce without sex

is limited to reproduction in plants and often in lower animals
vegetative
vsvegetal
  • Specialized
1 7.5

Making new plants from parts like cuttings and runners

includes the same reproductive mode but also appears in lower animals

Surface Forms

vegetal positive

Morphology

vegetal = vegetation (opaque) = veget + al

Although it literally points to plant-related qualities, the specialized biological sense of asexual reproduction is not something an average learner could reliably infer from the parts.

Etymology

Vegetal comes from the Latin root vegetare, 'to quicken', and is related to vegetable and vegetative, which are about plant growth. That is why in science vegetal can describe reproduction 'without sex', a plant-like way of making new life.