Most weedy plants, such as dandelion, grow quickly and produce a large number of seeds, ensuring that at least some will survive produce seeds themselves.

Others, such as coconut palm, produce a small number of large seeds. The large endosperm provides nutrients for the embryo that helps ensure the success of a relatively large fraction of offspring.

Some species exhibit semelparity ("big-bang") reproduction, reproducing a single time and die.

Others exhibit iteroparity, undergoing repeated reproduction.