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self-fertilization |
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self-fertilizationFusion of male and female sex cells (gametes) produced by the same individual. This type of fertilization occurs in bisexual organisms, including most flowering plants, numerous protozoans, and many invertebrates. Many organisms capable of self-fertilization can also reproduce by means of cross-fertilization. As an evolutionary mechanism, self-fertilization allows an isolated individual to create a local population and stabilizes desirable genetic strains, but it fails to provide a significant degree of variability within a population and thereby limits the possibilities for adaptation to environmental change. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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Douse it with herbicide but do it quickly before its cohort of self-fertilized seeds are loosed to the wind to drift across the winter landscape and burst forth as golden suns in the green fields of a distant May. Instead, impatiens undergo cleistogamy - hidden fertilization - whereby flower buds that never open are self-fertilized internally, eventually forming seed capsules that, at the slightest touch, explode. |
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