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In botany
Botany

Botany, plant science, phytology, or plant biology is a branch of biology and is the Scientific method of plant life and development....
, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal 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....
 of a 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....
 that is usually found underground, often sending out root
Root

In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant body that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial root or aerating ....
s and shoot
Shoot

Shoots are new plant growth, they can include plant stem, flowering stems with flower buds, leaves. The new growth from seed germination that grows upward is a shoot where leaves will develop....
s from its nodes. Plants with underground rhizomes include ginger
Ginger

Ginger is a spice which is used for cooking and is also consumed whole as a delicacy or medicine. It is the rhizome of the Zingiber, Zingiber officinale....
, the Venus Flytrap
Venus Flytrap

The Venus Flytrap, Dionaea muscipula, is a carnivorous plant that catches and digests animal prey—mostly insects and arachnids. Its trapping structure is formed by the terminal portion of each of the plant's leaves and is triggered by tiny hairs on their inner surfaces....
, Western poison-oak
Western Poison-oak

Toxicodendron diversilobum is a plant best known for its ability to cause allergic rashes after contact. Western Poison-oak is found only on the West Coast of the United States of the United States and of Canada....
, hops
Hops

Hops are the female flower cones, also known as strobiles, of the hop . They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, though hops are also used for various purposes in other beverages and Herbalism....
, and turmeric
Turmeric

Turmeric is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to tropical South Asia and needs temperatures between 20? C and 30? C, and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive....
, significant for their medicinal properties, and the weeds Johnson grass
Johnson grass

Johnson grass is a plant in the grass family, Poaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, but growing throughout Europe and the Middle East. The plant has been introduced to all continents except Antarctica and most larger islands and archipelago....
, bermuda grass, and purple nut sedge
Cyperus rotundus

Cyperus rotundus is a species of Cyperaceae native to Africa, southern and central Europe , and southern Asia.It is a perennial plant, that may reach a height of up to 40 cm....
. Some plants have rhizomes that grow above ground or that lie at the soil surface, including some Iris
Iris (plant)

Iris is a genus of between 200-300 species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species....
 species, and fern
Fern

A fern is any one of a group of about 20,000 species of plants classified in the phylum or division Pteridophyta, also known as Filicophyta....
s, whose spreading stems are rhizomes.






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In botany
Botany

Botany, plant science, phytology, or plant biology is a branch of biology and is the Scientific method of plant life and development....
, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal 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....
 of a 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....
 that is usually found underground, often sending out root
Root

In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant body that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial root or aerating ....
s and shoot
Shoot

Shoots are new plant growth, they can include plant stem, flowering stems with flower buds, leaves. The new growth from seed germination that grows upward is a shoot where leaves will develop....
s from its nodes. Plants with underground rhizomes include ginger
Ginger

Ginger is a spice which is used for cooking and is also consumed whole as a delicacy or medicine. It is the rhizome of the Zingiber, Zingiber officinale....
, the Venus Flytrap
Venus Flytrap

The Venus Flytrap, Dionaea muscipula, is a carnivorous plant that catches and digests animal prey—mostly insects and arachnids. Its trapping structure is formed by the terminal portion of each of the plant's leaves and is triggered by tiny hairs on their inner surfaces....
, Western poison-oak
Western Poison-oak

Toxicodendron diversilobum is a plant best known for its ability to cause allergic rashes after contact. Western Poison-oak is found only on the West Coast of the United States of the United States and of Canada....
, hops
Hops

Hops are the female flower cones, also known as strobiles, of the hop . They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, though hops are also used for various purposes in other beverages and Herbalism....
, and turmeric
Turmeric

Turmeric is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to tropical South Asia and needs temperatures between 20? C and 30? C, and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive....
, significant for their medicinal properties, and the weeds Johnson grass
Johnson grass

Johnson grass is a plant in the grass family, Poaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, but growing throughout Europe and the Middle East. The plant has been introduced to all continents except Antarctica and most larger islands and archipelago....
, bermuda grass, and purple nut sedge
Cyperus rotundus

Cyperus rotundus is a species of Cyperaceae native to Africa, southern and central Europe , and southern Asia.It is a perennial plant, that may reach a height of up to 40 cm....
. Some plants have rhizomes that grow above ground or that lie at the soil surface, including some Iris
Iris (plant)

Iris is a genus of between 200-300 species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species....
 species, and fern
Fern

A fern is any one of a group of about 20,000 species of plants classified in the phylum or division Pteridophyta, also known as Filicophyta....
s, whose spreading stems are rhizomes. Rhizomes may also be referred to as creeping rootstalks, or rootstocks. A 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....
 is similar to a rhizome, but, unlike a rhizome, which is the main stem of the plant, a stolon sprouts from an existing stem, has long internodes, and generates new shoots at the end, e.g., the 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....
 plant. In general, rhizomes have short internodes; they send out roots from the bottom of the nodes and new upward-growing shoots from the top of the nodes.

For many plants, the rhizome is used by farmers and gardeners to propagate the plants by a process known as vegetative reproduction
Vegetative reproduction

Vegetative reproduction is a type of asexual reproduction for plants, and is also called vegetative propagation, vegetative multiplication, or vegetative cloning....
. Examples of plants that are propagated this way include hops
Hops

Hops are the female flower cones, also known as strobiles, of the hop . They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, though hops are also used for various purposes in other beverages and Herbalism....
, asparagus
Asparagus

Asparagus officinalis is a flowering plant species in the genus Asparagus from which the vegetable known as asparagus is obtained....
, ginger
Ginger

Ginger is a spice which is used for cooking and is also consumed whole as a delicacy or medicine. It is the rhizome of the Zingiber, Zingiber officinale....
, iris
Iris (plant)

Iris is a genus of between 200-300 species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species....
es, Lily of the Valley, Cannas
Canna (plant)

Canna is a genus of approximately twenty species of flowering plants. The closest living relations to cannas are the other plant families of the order Zingiberales, that is the gingers, bananas, Marantaceae, heliconias, strelitzias, etc....
, and sympodial
Sympodial

File:Laelia superbiens RHS.jpegPlants with sympodial growth have a specialized lateral growth pattern in which the apical meristem is terminated....
 orchids.

A stem tuber
Tuber

Tubers are various types of modified plant structures that are enlarged to store nutrients. They are used by plants to overwinter and regrow the next year and as a means of asexual reproduction....
 is a thickened part of a rhizome or 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....
 that has been enlarged for use as a 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....
. In general, a tuber is high in starch
Starch

File:Amylose2.svgFile:Amylopektin Sessel.svgStarch or amylum is a polysaccharide carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds....
, for example, the common potato
Potato

The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial plant Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family. The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well....
, which is a modified stolon. The term tuber is often used imprecisely, and is sometimes applied to plants with rhizomes.

See also

  • mycorrhiza
    Mycorrhiza

    A mycorrhiza is a symbiosis association between a fungus and the roots of a plant. In a mycorrhizal association the fungus may colonize the roots of a host plant either intracellularly or extracellularly....