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rhizome

 
Dictionary: rhi·zome   ('zōm') pronunciation
 
rhizome
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rhizome
Solomon's seal rhizome
(Elizabeth Morales)
n.

A horizontal, usually underground stem that often sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Also called rootstalk, rootstock.

[Greek rhizōma, mass of roots, from rhizoun, to cause to take root, from rhiza, root.]

rhizomatous rhi·zom'a·tous (-zŏm'ə-təs, -zō'mə-) adj.
rhizomic rhi·zom'ic adj.
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Botanical term for swollen stem that produces roots and leafy shoots.

 

Horizontal underground plant stem capable of producing the upward shoot and downward root systems of a new plant. This capability allows vegetative (asexual) propagation and enables plants to survive an annual unfavourable season underground. In some plants (e.g., water lilies, many ferns, and forest herbs), the rhizome is the only stem of the plant. In such cases, only the leaves and flowers are readily visible.

For more information on rhizome, visit Britannica.com.

 
rhizome ('zōm) or rootstock, fleshy, creeping underground stem by means of which certain plants propagate themselves. Buds that form at the joints produce new shoots. Thus if a rhizome is cut by a cultivating tool it does not die, as would a root, but becomes several plants instead of one, which explains why such weeds as Canada thistle and crabgrass are so hard to eradicate. Ginger, the common iris, trillium, and Solomon's-seal all have rhizomes. True arrowroot is starch from the rhizome of a West Indian plant. See perennial.


 

An underground plant stem that develops roots and leaves at nodes along its length, e.g. in bracken, Sorghum halepense.

 

A horizontal underground stem, often swollen into a storage organ. Both roots and shoots emerge from rhizomes. Rhizomes generally branch as they creep along and can be divided to make new plants.

rhizome

 
Wikipedia: Rhizome
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A harvested ginger rhizome
A Euphorbia plant sending out rhizomes
An iris rhizome growing above ground

In botany, a rhizome (from Greek: ῥίζωμα "rootstalk") is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes may also be referred to as creeping rootstalks, or rootstocks.

A stolon 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 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. It is a method of reproduction for plants. A stem tuber is a thickened part of a rhizome or stolon that has been enlarged for use as a storage organ.[1] In general, a tuber is high in starch, for example, the common potato, which is a modified stolon. The term tuber is often used imprecisely, and is sometimes applied to plants with rhizomes.

Some plants have rhizomes that grow above ground or that lie at the soil surface, including some Iris species, and ferns, whose spreading stems are rhizomes. Plants with underground rhizomes include ginger, bamboo, the Venus Flytrap, Chinese lantern, Western poison-oak,[2] hops, and turmeric, significant for their medicinal properties[citation needed], and the weeds Johnson grass, bermuda grass, and purple nut sedge.

For many plants, the rhizome is used by farmers and gardeners to propagate the plants by a process known as vegetative reproduction. Examples of plants that are propagated this way include hops, asparagus, ginger, irises, Lily of the Valley, Cannas, and sympodial orchids.

See also

References

  1. ^ Kingsley R. Stern Introductory Plant Biology, 10th ed. ISBN 0072909412
  2. ^ C.Michael Hogan (2008) Western poison-oak: Toxicodendron diversilobum, GlobalTwitcher, ed. Nicklas Stromberg [1]

 
Translations: Rhizome
Top

Dansk (Danish)
n. - [bot.] jordstængel, rhizom, rodstok

Nederlands (Dutch)
wortelstok

Français (French)
n. - rhizome

Deutsch (German)
n. - Wurzelstock

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (φυτολ.) ρίζωμα

Italiano (Italian)
rizoma

Português (Portuguese)
n. - rizoma (m) (Bot.)

Русский (Russian)
ризома

Español (Spanish)
n. - rizoma

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - rotstock

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
根茎, 地下茎

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 根莖, 地下莖

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 뿌리줄기, 지하경

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 地下茎, 根茎

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) الجذمور وهي ساق أرضيه أشبه بالجذر‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮גבעול תת-קרקעי, קנה-שורש‬


 
 

 

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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Food and Nutrition. A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2005 by A. E. Bender and D. A. Bender. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/  Read more
Veterinary Dictionary. Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition. Copyright © 2007 by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay, Elsevier. All rights reserved.  Read more
Gardener's Dictionary. Taylor's Dictionary for Gardeners, by Frances Tenenbaum. Copyright © 1997 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Rhizome" Read more
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