The reproduction of plants through spores rather than through flowers and seeds, or the hidden nature of reproductive structures in certain organisms.
From Greek 'kryptos' (hidden) + 'gamos' (reproduction/marriage), formalized as a scientific term in the 18th century to categorize plants lacking visible sexual organs.
Early botanists were baffled by ferns and mosses because they reproduced 'invisibly'—the spores are so tiny you need a microscope to see them, yet somehow each one carries the genetic blueprint for a whole new plant.
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