Question

Mention the advantages of selecting pea plant for experiment by Mendel

Answer 1

Mendel selected pea plants to carry out his study on the inheritance of characters from parents to offspring.
He selected a pea plant because of the following features.

•  Peas have many visible contrasting characters such as tall/dwarf plants, round/wrinkled seeds, green/yellow pod, purple/white flowers, etc.
•  Peas have bisexual flowers and therefore undergo self pollination easily. Thus, pea plants produce offsprings with same traits generation after generation.
•  In pea plants, cross pollination can be easily achieved by emasculation in which the stamen of the flower is removed without affecting the pistil.
•  Pea plants have a short life span and produce many seeds in one generation.