Question

Do u think cleistogamy is advantageous or disadvantageous to the plant? Why?

Answer 1

ADVANTAGES :- a) It ensures pure line breeding of the plant which is essential for studying genetics and heredity.

b) Good quality progenies are produced which have the same traits of the parent plant.

c) The plant doesn't need to produce scent, nectar or extra pollen to attract pollinators.

DISADVANTAGES:- a) VARIATION, which is mainly required for adapting to changing environment or to produce progenies having different characters, is not possible.

It is mainly observed in pea, bean plants.

Hope this helps. :)

Answer 2

  Cleistogamy or automatic self-pollination in a small, closed flower is cheap for the plant. There is no costly corolla, fragrance, or nectar to grow so the plant has fewer metabolic biosynthetic pathways to support. The fertilization is guaranteed so this makes a great backup flower to plants that produce opening flowers as well. 

If the plant is growing on good soil in environments with good light it can favor growing large expensive open flowers with nectar to ensure cross fertilization but if the plant grows in poor soil &/or poor light it can still set some seed with cheap flowers and ensured self fertilization at the expense of cross fertilization. 

Another advantage of have some cleistogamous flowers occurs in regions with erratically good weather during anthesis (flower opening). The cleistogamy is favored by having some flowers protected from climactic damage; having some closed flowers ensures having some anthers not exposed to rain or extremes in temperature. Unseasonably rainy weather during anthesis can destroy the open flowers chances of reproduction by washing out the pollen. 

A closed flower prevents wasting time responding to incompatible pollen. Open flowers must deal with pollen by actively preventing self pollination with some physical barrier or a chemical barrier to self fertilization. 

The advantage to producing an open flower with a costly pollination syndrome requiring nectar and self pollination barriers is just cross fertilization to increase genetic variation.


is this much ok and i have explained little bit extra