Question

Identify the plants that can reproduce by leaves?
a. Sugarcane
b. Onion
c. Saintpaulia
d. Opuntia

Answer 1

Hint: Vegetative reproduction is a cycle in which part of the plant body gets removed and becomes a new independent plant. In vegetative propagation, plant parts that replicate naturally (such as root, stem, leaves, and buds) as well as artificially (cutting, layering, grafting, and Gootee) may play an active part.

Complete answer:
> Option A is incorrect. Sugarcane is aerial shoots whose node/ stem segment is capable of developing into a new plant after planting in the soil. Sugarcanes are replicated asexually by the use of stem parts called setts (plant cuttings containing at least one node).

> Option B is incorrect. Onions reproduce either with seeds or with bulbils (modified shoot), which have very short stems and apical or lateral buds. Bulb develops by the growth of the leaves of the radicle and the flag, after which the true leaves appear.

> Option C is correct. Streptocarpus sect. Saintpaulia is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant within the Gesneriaceae family. Species buds only grow when the leaf is wounded or removed, and fall on the wet soil. They are usually grown as domestic plants.

> Option D is incorrect. Opuntia species are prickly pear or common cactus found in bajada, hill-piedmont, and interdune ecosystems in areas such as the biosphere reserve Mapimi. It can replicate vegetatively or even by seed. Nonetheless, after falling into the soil, a stem fragment grows into a new plant.
So, the correct answer is Option C.

Note: Natural vegetative reproduction is a process often found in perennial herbaceous and woody plants, which usually includes structural modifications of the stem or roots and leaves of a few species.