#autogamy
- Alautogamy — A biological phenomenon or mixed reproductive strategy found in certain flowering plant species, structurally characterized by the capacity to simultaneously or alternatively achieve both cross-pollination (allogamy) and self-pollination (autogamy), depending on environmental conditions, the presence of pollinating vectors, or the maturity stage of sexual organs. This flexible mechanism ensures maximal adaptability and reproductive success of the plant population in unstable habitats.
- Autocarp — A structural fruit resulting exclusively from the process of self-fertilization (autogamy) without any intervention of pollen from another flower or surrounding plant. As an adjective, it describes a plant structure capable of self-fruiting.
- Self-fertilization — The act of self-fertilizing and its result; the biological process of fusing male and female sexual elements produced by the same individual organism. In botany, this phenomenon is also known as autogamy and is considered an efficient reproductive strategy in unstable environments, though it reduces the genetic variability of offspring.
- Self-fertilization — A less frequent morphological variant of the term 'autofecundare'; the biological phenomenon through which male and female gametes produced by the same individual fuse to form a zygote. It is sometimes used in older scientific literature or plant physiology treatises to emphasize the biochemical act of self-fertilization, being synonymous with autogamy.
- Autogamy — A mode of reproduction characteristic of certain plants and lower organisms, consisting of self-fertilization or self-pollination, a process whereby the fusion of gametes originates from the same individual. This evolutionary biological mechanism guarantees the genetic stability of the species and its perpetuation in isolated or harsh habitats, eliminating structural reliance on external factors such as pollinating insects, wind, or water, although it limits long-term genetic diversity and recombination.
- Self-pollination — A biological reproductive process in spermatophyte plants, characterized by the transfer of pollen grains from the anthers to the stigma of the same flower (autogamy) or of another flower belonging to the same individual (geitonogamy). This endogenous structural mechanism ensures fertilization in the absence of external pollination vectors, but limits the genetic variability of the offspring by increasing homozygosity.