Stolon
/STOH-lon/🔬 Anatomy●● Intermediate
Also known as: runner, creeping stem
A modified stem that grows horizontally along or just below the ground surface, producing new roots and shoots at its nodes or tip. Stolons (runners) are a means of vegetative reproduction, allowing plants to spread laterally and colonise new ground. Strawberries, spider plants, and many lawn grasses spread via stolons. They differ from rhizomes in growing above or along the surface rather than underground.
Etymology
Latin stolo (shoot, branch, sucker)
Example
“Strawberry plants send out stolons that root at the tip, forming daughter plants that can be separated.”