What does agamospermy mean?
Agamospermy is the botanical phenomenon in which plants produce seeds without fertilization, meaning embryos form asexually rather than through the union of male and female gametes. The resulting offspring are typically genetic clones of the parent plant, which allows species to reproduce reliably even in the absence of pollinators or mates. Agamospermy is well known in dandelions, hawkweeds, blackberries, and certain grasses and citrus trees, where it can give rise to stable lineages of identical individuals. Closely related to the broader concept of apomixis, it is distinguished from parthenocarpy, which involves seedless fruit rather than fertile seeds. For botanists and plant breeders, agamospermy is both a fascinating quirk of reproduction and a subject of practical interest, since harnessing it could allow valuable hybrid traits to be fixed and passed on through seed generation after generation.
nounThe formation of seeds without fertilization, a form of asexual reproduction in plants in which embryos develop from unreduced egg cells or somatic cells of the ovule.
- The production of seeds without fertilization, as a mode of asexual reproduction in plants.
"In certain dandelions, agamospermy allows viable seeds to form without any pollination taking place."
"Because of agamospermy, the hawkweed population reproduced true to type year after year without cross-pollination."
"Botanists studying agamospermy in citrus found that many of the seedlings were genetically identical to the mother tree."
Rarely used; the term is normally treated as uncountable in botanical literature.
"Different mechanisms of agamospermy have been documented across the genus."
Dandelions can produce perfect seeds without ever being pollinated — thanks to agamospermy, every seed is essentially a clone of its parent.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of agamospermy
Agamospermy derives from Greek roots: 'agamos' meaning 'without marriage' or 'unwed', referring to the absence of sexual union, and 'sperma' meaning 'seed'. The term was coined in the context of early twentieth-century botanical research into asexual reproduction in flowering plants. It shares these Greek elements with related terms such as 'agamous' and 'agamogenesis' from the same prefix, and 'angiosperm' and 'gymnosperm' from the same root for seed.
Related word forms
How agamospermy is actually used
A technical term used almost exclusively in botany, plant genetics, and agricultural science; it is rare in general conversation. It is typically discussed alongside related phenomena such as apomixis and parthenogenesis.
Easily confused with agamospermy
Parthenocarpy is the development of fruit without fertilization (producing seedless fruit), whereas agamospermy produces actual seeds without fertilization.
Apomixis is the broader term covering all forms of asexual reproduction that bypass meiosis and fertilization, while agamospermy refers specifically to apomictic seed formation.