The life cycle pattern in plants where a diploid sporophyte generation alternates with a haploid gametophyte generation. The sporophyte produces spores through meiosis, while the gametophyte produces gametes through mitosis.
From Latin 'alternare' meaning 'to do by turns' and 'generatio' meaning 'a begetting' or 'generation'. The concept was formalized in the 1850s by German botanist Wilhelm Hofmeister, who first described this fundamental pattern underlying all plant reproduction.
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