While there is no record of the actual processes of plant reproduction, patterns of reproduction can be followed. Prokaryotic organisms reproduce asexually producing filial cells, daughter colonies or fragments from simple cleavage (1). Mitotic cell division, meiosis and the production of the haploid spores (2) followed by gametogenesis (3) provide for cell duplication and relatively large and complex cell bodies. The ability to link the life histories of modern plants to available fossil records suggests that the pattern of zygotic meiosis was the earliest to evolve (4). Immediate meiosis (gametic) (5) and delayed meiosis (sporic) (6) are two patterns that evolved from the zygotic pattern by a delay in meiosis:
(A.) Immediate meiosis develops a haploid pattern -- Haplontic Life Cycle I also known as Monobiontic Haploid -- where the prominent generation is the haploid adult.
(B.) Delayed meiosis develops a diploid pattern -- Diplontic Life Cycle II also known as Monobiontic Diploid -- where the prominent generation is the diploid adult.
