An irreversible increase in the size of the plant. As plants, like other organisms, are made up of cells, growth involves an increase in cell numbers by cell division and an increase in cell size. Cell division itself is not growth, as each new cell is exactly half the size of the cell from which it was formed. Only when it grows to the same size as its progenitor has growth been realized. Nonetheless, as each cell has a maximum size, cell division is considered as providing the potential for growth.