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Clonal colony

 

 
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Clonal colony
 
 
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"Ramet" redirects here. For the commune in Alba County
Alba County

Alba is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with the capital city at Alba Iulia ....
, Romania
Romania

Romania is a country located in Southeastern Europe Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian Mountains, bordering on the Black Sea....
 see Rāmet
Rāmet

R?met is a Commune in Romania located in Alba County, Romania. It has a population of 970....
.


A clonal colony
Colony (biology)

In biology, a colony refers to several individual organisms of the same species living closely together, usually for mutual benefit, such as stronger defences or the ability to attack bigger prey....
 or genet is a group of genetically identical individuals (e. g., plant
Plant

Plants are Life organisms belonging to the Kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae....
s, fungi, or bacteria
Bacteria

The Bacteria are a large group of unicellular microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals....
) that have grown in a given location, all originating vegetatively
Vegetative reproduction

Vegetative reproduction is a type of asexual reproduction for plants, and is also called vegetative propagation, vegetative multiplication, or vegetative cloning....
 (not sexually) from a single ancestor. In plants, an individual in such a population is referred to as a ramet. In fungi, "individuals" typically refers to the visible fruiting bodies or mushroom
Mushroom

A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, hence the word mushroom is most often applied to those fungi that have a stem , a cap , and gills on the unde...
s that develop from a common mycelium
Mycelium

Mycelium is the Vegetative reproduction part of a fungus, consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. The mass of hyphae is sometimes called shiro, especially within the Fairy rings fungi....
 which, although spread over a large area, is otherwise hidden in the soil.






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Encyclopedia


"Ramet" redirects here. For the commune in Alba County
Alba County

Alba is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with the capital city at Alba Iulia ....
, Romania
Romania

Romania is a country located in Southeastern Europe Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian Mountains, bordering on the Black Sea....
 see Rāmet
Rāmet

R?met is a Commune in Romania located in Alba County, Romania. It has a population of 970....
.


A clonal colony
Colony (biology)

In biology, a colony refers to several individual organisms of the same species living closely together, usually for mutual benefit, such as stronger defences or the ability to attack bigger prey....
 or genet is a group of genetically identical individuals (e. g., plant
Plant

Plants are Life organisms belonging to the Kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae....
s, fungi, or bacteria
Bacteria

The Bacteria are a large group of unicellular microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals....
) that have grown in a given location, all originating vegetatively
Vegetative reproduction

Vegetative reproduction is a type of asexual reproduction for plants, and is also called vegetative propagation, vegetative multiplication, or vegetative cloning....
 (not sexually) from a single ancestor. In plants, an individual in such a population is referred to as a ramet. In fungi, "individuals" typically refers to the visible fruiting bodies or mushroom
Mushroom

A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, hence the word mushroom is most often applied to those fungi that have a stem , a cap , and gills on the unde...
s that develop from a common mycelium
Mycelium

Mycelium is the Vegetative reproduction part of a fungus, consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. The mass of hyphae is sometimes called shiro, especially within the Fairy rings fungi....
 which, although spread over a large area, is otherwise hidden in the soil. Clonal colonies are common in many plant species. Although many plants reproduce sexually through the production of seed, some plants reproduce by underground stolons or rhizomes. Above ground these plants appear to be distinct individuals, but underground they remain interconnected and are all clones of the same plant. However, it is not always easy to recognize a clonal colony especially if it spreads underground and is also sexually reproducing.

Methods of establishment

  • With most woody plants, clonal colonies arise by wide-ranging roots that at intervals send up new shoots, termed suckers
    Basal shoot

    A basal shoot, root sprout, adventitious shoot, water sprout or sucker is a shoot or cane which grows from a bud at the base of a tree or shrub or from its roots....
    .
  • Trees and shrubs with branches that touch the ground can form colonies via layering
    Layering

    Layering is a means of plant propagation in which a portion of an aerial Plant stem grow roots while still attached to the parent plant and then detaches as an independent plant....
    , e. g. willow
    Willow

    Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere....
     and blackberry
    BlackBerry

    The BlackBerry is a wireless handheld device introduced in 1999 as a two-way pager. In 2002, the more commonly known smartphone BlackBerry was released, which supports push e-mail, mobile telephone, text messaging, internet faxing, web browsing and other wireless information services as well as a multi-touch interface....
    .
  • Some vines naturally form adventitious
    Adventitious

    Adventitious, in botany, refers to structures that develop in an unusual place, and in medicine, it refers to conditions acquired after birth. This article discusses adventitious roots, buds and shoots, which are very common in vascular plants....
     roots on their stem
    Plant stem

    A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes, the nodes hold buds which grow into one or more leaf, inflorescence , conifer cones or other stems etc....
    s that take root in the soil when the stems contact the ground, e. g. ivy and trumpet vine
    Trumpet vine

    The Trumpet vine or Trumpet creeper , also known as "Cow itch vine," is a large and vigorous woody vine of the family Bignoniaceae, notable for its showy trumpet-shaped flowers....
    .
  • With other vines, rooting of the stem where nodes come into contact with soil may establish a clonal colony, e. g. Wisteria
    Wisteria

    Wisteria is a genus of about ten species of woody climbing vines native to the eastern United States and the East Asian states of China, Korea, and Japan....
    .
  • Ferns and many herbaceous flowering plants often form clonal colonies via horizontal underground stems termed rhizome
    Rhizome

    In botany, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal plant stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes....
    s, e.g. ostrich fern Matteuccia struthiopteris and goldenrod
    Goldenrod

    The goldenrod is a yellow flowering plant in the Family Asteraceae....
    .
  • A number of herbaceous flowering plants form clonal colonies via horizontal surface stems termed stolon
    Stolon

    Stolons are horizontal plant stems which grow at the soil surface or below ground. They form new plants at the ends or at the Node s. Stolons are often called runners....
    s, or runners; e.g.strawberry
    Strawberry

    Fragaria is the name of a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits....
     and many grass
    Grass

    Grass is the common word that generally describes monocotyledonous green plants. The family Poaceae are the "true grasses" and include most plants grown as grains, for pasture, and for lawns ....
    es.
  • Nonwoody plants with underground storage organ
    Storage organ

    A storage organ is a part of a plant specifically modified for storage of energy or water. Storage organs often grow underground, where they are better protected from attack by herbivores....
    s such as bulb
    Bulb

    A bulb is an underground vertical shoot that has modified leaf that are used as food storage organs by a dormancy plant.A bulb's leaf bases generally do not support leaves, but contain food reserves to enable the plant to survive adverse conditions....
    s and corm
    Corm

    A corm is a short, vertical, swollen underground plant Plant stem that serves as a storage organ used by some plants to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat ....
    s can also form colonies, e. g. Narcissus and Crocus
    Crocus

    Crocus is a genus of perennial plant flowering plants, native to a large area from coastal and subalpine areas of central and southern Europe , North Africa and the Middle East, across Central Asia to western China....
    .
  • A few plant species can form colonies via adventitious plantlets that form on leaves, e. g. Kalanchoe daigremontiana
    Kalanchoe daigremontiana

    Kalanchoe daigremontiana syn. Bryophyllum daigremontianum also called Devil's Backbone, Alligator Plant, Mexican Hat Plant or Mother of Thousands is a succulent plant native to Madagascar....
     and Tolmiea menziesii.
  • A few plant species can form colonies via asexual seeds, termed apomixis
    Apomixis

    In botany, apomixis is asexual reproduction, without fertilization. In plants with independent gametophytes , apomixis refers to the formation of sporophytes by parthenogenesis of gametophyte cells....
    , e. g. dandelion.


Record colonies

A group of 47,000 Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) clones (nicknamed "Pando
Pando (tree)

Pando is a clonal colony of a single male Populus tremuloides tree located in the U.S. state of Utah, all determined to be part of a single living organism by identical genetic markers and one massive underground root....
") in the Wasatch Mountains, Utah
Utah

The State of Utah is a western United States U.S. state of the United States. It was the List of U.S. states by date of statehood admitted to the United States on January 4, 1896....
, USA, is sometimes considered the world's largest organism by mass, covering . It is possible that other unknown clonal colonies of trees rival or exceed its size.

The only known plant of King's Lomatia
King's Lomatia

King's Lomatia is a Tasmanian shrub from the family Proteaceae. The plant has shiny green leaves and bears pink flowers, but yields neither fruit nor seeds....
 (Lomatia tasmanica) in Tasmania
Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and States and territories of Australia of the same name. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, being separated from it by Bass Strait....
 is a clonal colony estimated to be 43,600 years old. Another possible candidate is a stand of the marine plant Posidonia oceanica
Posidonia oceanica

Posidonia oceanica is a species of seagrass that is endemism to the Mediterranean Sea. This marine biology plant forms large underwater meadows that are considered to be of high importance to the environmental conservation movement of the region....
 in the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea or Ocean off the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia....
, which could be up to 100,000 years of age.

Examples

When woody plants form clonal colonies, they often remain connected through the root system, sharing roots, water and mineral nutrients
Plant nutrition

Plant nutrition is the study of the chemical element that are necessary for plant growth. There are several principles that apply to plant nutrition. Some the element is directly involved in plant metabolism ....
. A few non-vining woody plants that form clonal colonies are:
  • Aspen
    Aspen

    Aspens are trees of the Salicaceae family and comprise a section of the poplar genus, Populus sect. Populus. There are six species in the section, one of them atypical, and one hybrid:...
    s, Populus species
  • Bayberry, "Myrica pensylvanica"
  • Black locust
    Black locust

    Robinia pseudoacacia, commonly known as the Black Locust, is a tree in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States, but has been widely planted and naturalisation elsewhere in temperate North America, Europe and Asia and is considered an invasive species in some areas....
    , Robinia pseudoacacia
  • Bladdernut
    Bladdernut

    Staphylea is a small genus of 10 or 11 species of flowering plants in the family Staphyleaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere....
    , Staphylea species
  • Blueberry
    Blueberry

    Blueberries are flowering plants in the genus Vaccinium, sect. Cyanococcus. The species are native only to North America. They are shrubs varying in size from 10 cm tall to 4 m tall; the smaller species are known as "lowbush blueberries" , and the larger species as "highbush blueberries"....
    , Vaccinium species
  • Forsythia
    Forsythia

    Forsythia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae . There are about 11 species, mostly native to eastern Asia, but one native to southeastern Europe....
    , Forsythia species
  • Hazelnut, Corylus species
  • Honey locust
    Honey locust

    The Honey locust is a deciduous tree native to eastern North America. It is mostly found in the moist soil of river valleys ranging from southeastern South Dakota to New Orleans and central Texas, and as far east as central Pennsylvania....
    , Gleditsia triacanthos
  • Kentucky coffeetree
    Kentucky coffeetree

    The Kentucky Coffeetree, Gymnocladus dioicus, is a tree in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae of the pea family Fabaceae, native to the Midwestern United States of North America....
    , Gymnocladus dioicus
  • Kerria, Kerria japonica
  • Pawpaw
    Pawpaw

    Pawpaw is a genus of eight or nine species of small trees with large leaves and fruit, native to eastern North America. The genus includes the largest edible fruit indigenous to the continent....
    , Asimina triloba
  • Sassafras
    Sassafras

    Sassafras is a genus of three species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia.Sassafras trees grow from 15?35 m tall and 70?150 cm in diameter, with many slender branches, and smooth, orange-brown bark....
    , Sassafras albidum
  • Sumac
    Sumac

    Sumac is any one of approximately 250 species of flowering plants in the genus Rhus and related genera, in the family Anacardiaceae. The dried berries of some species are ground to produce a tangy purple spice....
    , Rhus species
  • Sweetgum
    Sweetgum

    Sweetgum is a genus of four species of flowering plants in the family Altingiaceae, though formerly often treated in the Hamamelidaceae. They are all large, deciduous trees, 25-40 m tall, with leaf shapely lobed leaf arranged spirally on the stems....
    , Liquidambar styraciflua
  • Sweetshrub, Calycanthus floridus