apogamy

American  

[uh-pog-uh-mee] / əˈpɒg ə mi /

noun

Botany, Mycology.

1. the asexual development of a sporophyte from a cell or cells of the gametophyte other than the egg.

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apogamy British  

/ ˌæpəˈɡæmɪk, əˈpɒɡəmɪ /

noun

1. a type of reproduction, occurring in some ferns, in which the sporophyte develops from the gametophyte without fusion of gametes

2. the development of a diploid cell in the embryo sac of flowering plants into an embryo without being fertilized

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Other Word Forms

• apogamic
  adjective
• apogamically
  adverb
• apogamous
  adjective
• apogamously
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of apogamy

First recorded in 1875–80; apo- + -gamy

Example Sentences

Passing on now to apogamy, or isolation of the indiscriminate kind, we may well be disposed, at first sight, to conclude that this kind of isolation can count for nothing in the process of evolution.

From Darwin, and After Darwin (Vol 3 of 3) Post-Darwinian Questions: Isolation and Physiological Selection by Romanes, George John

But of course this does not hinder that under apogamy various other causes of homogamy are likely to arise—in particular natural selection.

From Darwin, and After Darwin (Vol 3 of 3) Post-Darwinian Questions: Isolation and Physiological Selection by Romanes, George John

Except where very large populations are concerned, indiscriminate isolation always tends to become increasingly discriminate; and, in the measure that it does so, apogamy passes into homogamy, by virtue of Independent Variability.

From Darwin, and After Darwin (Vol 3 of 3) Post-Darwinian Questions: Isolation and Physiological Selection by Romanes, George John

This essay deals only with one of the many different forms of isolation—the geographical—and is therefore throughout concerned with a consideration of diversity as arising from apogamy alone.

From Darwin, and After Darwin (Vol 3 of 3) Post-Darwinian Questions: Isolation and Physiological Selection by Romanes, George John

The last-mentioned case has been regarded as representing an apogamous development of the sporophyte from the gametophyte comparable to the cases of apogamy described in Ferns.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Part 1, Slice 1 by Various