Short-lived plagiotropic above-ground stems are specialised for spreading. They provide temporal vascular connections between daughter and mother plants during the first growing season. The stem may bear roots and leaves and it serves as temporal storage organ of food reserves and buds. Growth is monopodial or sympodial. Fragmentation is caused by decaying of plagiotropic stems. The daughter ramets may be long-lived

[other examples: Ajuga reptans, Geum reptans, Glechoma hederacea, Potentilla anserina, Trifolium repens].

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