A unique reproductive process in flowering plants where two sperm cells from a pollen grain fertilize two different structures: one sperm fertilizes the egg to form the embryo, while the other fertilizes the central cell to form the nutritive endosperm tissue.
Term combining 'double' from Latin 'duplus' meaning twofold, and 'fertilization' from Latin 'fertilis' meaning fruitful. This process was discovered in the 1890s and recognized as a defining characteristic of angiosperms (flowering plants).
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