Growth

Growth is defined as the irreversible increase in the dry mass of an organism. Growth is seldom random. It occurs according to a plan that eventually determines the size and shape of the individual. Growth may be restricted to special regions of the organism, such as the layers of cells that divide and increase in size near the tip of the plant shoot.

The increase in size and changes in shape of a developing organism depend on the increase in the number and size of cells that make up the individual. Increase in cell number occurs by a precise cellular reproductive mechanism called Mitosis. There are five (5) stages of Mitosis.

Stages of Mitosis: Interphase; Prophase; Metaphase; Anaphase; Telophase