Reproduction In Organisms

Life span and reproductive frequency vary widely among organisms, a theme introduced in NCERT Class 12, Chapter 1 (Reproduction in Organisms). Plants that flower and bear fruit only once in their life are termed monocarpic, while animals that breed only a single time before dying are described as semelparous. Bamboo species, which flower once after many decades and then die, and the Pacific salmon, which spawns once and perishes, are classic examples. Polycarpic and iteroparous organisms are incorrect because these reproduce repeatedly through their lives, as seen in mango trees and most mammals. Perennial flowering plants is wrong because being perennial refers to a long life span and does not specify single-time flowering. Vegetatively propagating organisms is unrelated, as that describes a mode of reproduction rather than its frequency. A logical check supports the answer: the question stresses reproducing 'only once' before death, which precisely defines the monocarpic and semelparous categories rather than repeated breeders.