apospory

botany

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

June 18, 2026

Quick Summary

Apospory is a botanical term describing the production of gametophytes directly from diploid cells of the sporophyte, bypassing the usual process of spore formation. This phenomenon occurs in certain plants, such as some ferns and mosses.12

In a typical plant life cycle, a diploid sporophyte alternates with a haploid gametophyte. However, with apospory, diploid gametophytes develop directly from the sporophyte's vegetative cells without meiosis. This is a form of apomixis, which is reproduction without fertilization. While apospory can disrupt normal life cycles, some plants have developed mechanisms to compensate.34

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

4 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

plant
Deviations from the usual life history
Apospory is the development of 2n gametophytes, without meiosis and spores, from vegetative, or nonreproductive, cells of the sporophyte. In contrast, apogamy is the development of 1n sporophytes without gametes and syngamy from vegetative cells of the gametophyte. The 2n aposporous gametophytes and the 1n…
Read More
Apospory is the development of 2n gametophytes, without meiosis and spores, from vegetative, or nonreproductive, cells of the sporophyte. In contrast, apogamy is the development of 1n sporophytes without gametes and syngamy from vegetative cells of the gametophyte. The 2n aposporous gametophytes and the 1n…
Read More

Nathanael Pringsheim
…to demonstrate a case of apospory, sometimes called apomixy (the production of a sexual generation from an asexual generation without the intervention of spores), in the Thallophyta (e.g., algae, fungi). By 1875 his attention had turned completely to plant physiology, and four years later he published a paper on the…
Read More
…to demonstrate a case of apospory, sometimes called apomixy (the production of a sexual generation from an asexual generation without the intervention of spores), in the Thallophyta (e.g., algae, fungi). By 1875 his attention had turned completely to plant physiology, and four years later he published a paper on the…
Read More