Life cycle of flowering plants

Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers. These plants have a life cycle: from seed to flower, to seed. The end product of every flowering plants is a seed and this seed is sown to produce another flowering plant. These plants go through stages in their growth and development. These stages are:

• Pollination

• Fertilisation

• Flowering

• Fruit / seed formation

• Seed dispersal

• Seed germination

A flower stays for a short period and then develops into a fruit. The fruit bears seeds when plants start to grow.

Roots grow down into the soil and a shoot appears above the ground. The plant’s leaves point outward so that sunlight can fall on them. The shoot grows upwards towards the light and the roots grow downwards.

The shoot system is modified for sexual reproduction. It bears the sex organs that produce male and female gametes.