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Runners

/RUN-erz/
✂️ Propagation Basic

Also known as: stolons, surface runners

Runners (stolons) are specialized horizontal stems that grow along the soil surface, rooting and producing new plantlets at their nodes. This allows rapid vegetative spread and clonal reproduction. Strawberries are the classic example, but spider plants, some grasses, and Ajuga also spread by runners. Gardeners can propagate new plants by pinning runners to soil in pots until they root, then severing the connection.

Etymology

From Old English rinnan (to flow, run)

Example

The strawberry bed produced abundant runners by midsummer, each developing into a new plantlet.