What is "apomixis"

n. 1 (context botany English) plant reproduction without fertilization 2 (context botany English) plant reproduction without fertilization, meiosis, or the production of gametes 3 (context zoology English) animal reproduction in which the egg cell did not undergo meiosis or fertilization

1. n. any of several kinds of reproduction without fertilization

2. [also: apomixes (pl)]

In botany, apomixis was defined by Hans Winkler as replacement of the normal sexual reproduction by asexual reproduction, without fertilization. Its etymology is Greek for "away from" + "mixing". This definition notably does not mention meiosis. Thus "normal asexual reproduction" of plants, such as propagation from cuttings or leaves, has never been considered to be apomixis, but replacement of the seed by a plantlet or replacement of the flower by bulbils are types of apomixis. Apomictically produced offspring are genetically identical to the parent plant.

Some authors included all forms of asexual reproduction within apomixis, but that generalization of the term has since died out.

In flowering plants, the term "apomixis" is commonly used in a restricted sense to mean agamospermy, i.e. clonal reproduction through seeds. Although agamospermy could theoretically occur in gymnosperms, it appears to be absent in that group.

Apogamy is a related term that has had various meanings over time. In plants with independent gametophytes (notably ferns), the term is still used interchangeably with "apomixis", and both refer to the formation of sporophytes by parthenogenesis of gametophyte cells.

Male apomixis (paternal apomixis) involves replacement of the genetic material of the egg cell by that from the pollen.