A form of asexual reproduction in plants where seeds develop without fertilization or meiosis, creating clones of the parent.
From apo- (away from, separate) + embryony (reproduction by embryos), from embryo + -y. A 19th-century botanical term describing plants that bypass normal sexual reproduction.
Some plants are master cheaters: they make seeds that are genetic copies of the parent with zero help from another plant, letting them colonize new areas as clones—it's nature's answer to 'why risk finding a mate when you're already perfect?'
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