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Asexual Reproduction
There are two types of asexual reproduction in plants: vegetative reproduction and apomixis. While the specific processes of each are different, the result is always the same-the creation of clones, offspring that are genetically identical to the parent plant. Asexual reproduction can be advantageous for plants well adapted to their environments; it guarantees that traits that make the plant well suited to its environment will be preserved in future generations.
Vegetative Reproduction
Plants that produce rhizomes, stolons, tubers, and other modified stems are frequently capable of vegetative reproduction. These modified stems may have buds, and each one of these buds is capable of developing into an independent plant. Gardeners commonly take advantage of this trait to propagate such species by dividing modified stem segments with buds into separate pieces that can grow into new plants. By propagating vegetatively, you can be sure that desirable traits of the parent plant -- say, a certain color leaf -- will be passed on to the new plants, which will be genetically identical to the parent.
Apomixis
In some plants, embryos can develop without the fusion of male and female gametes. For example, an embryo might arise from an unreduced female gametophyte-that is, from the structure that will produce the female gamete or egg. The female gametophyte is unreduced because the meiocyte, a specialized cell involved in sexual reproduction, fails to undergo meiosis, the process that reduces the chromosome number by half and results in the formation of gametes (see the discussion of sexual reproduction). The plants that develop after germination from such an embryo are clones, just like the products of vegetative reproduction.