Match the following terms and definitions. 1. the idea that the sporophyte generation and the gametophyte generation follow one another in alternating fashion 2. the process of changing cells or organisms from a generalized to a more specific or specialized condition; often involves a reduction of the ability to reproduce or divide and is usually not reversible 3. beginning period of growth of a seed or spore; to sprout 4. the youthful, undifferentiated cells of root and shoot tips and other plant parts that produce new cells for growth 5. a plant that continues to grow year after year from the same plant body 6. above ground part of a plant; leaves, stems, flowers, fruits, etc. 7. the meristematic cells that produce new cells, increasing plant body girth; often forming a ring only several cell layers wide in woody stems and roots meristem shoot differentiation germination alternation of generations vascular cambium perennial