Product Code Database
In botany, a plant shoot consists of any plant stem together with its appendages like leaves, lateral buds, flowering stems, and . The new growth from seed germination that grows upward is a shoot where leaves will develop. In the spring, perennial plant shoots are the new growth that grows from the ground in herbaceous plants or the new stem or flower growth that grows on woody plants.
In everyday speech, shoots are often synonymous with stems. Stems, which are an integral component of shoots, provide an axis for buds, fruits, and leaves.
Young shoots are often eaten by animals because the natural fiber in the new growth have not yet completed secondary cell wall development, making the young shoots softer and easier to chew and digest. As shoots grow and age, the cells develop secondary cell walls that have a hard and tough structure. Some plants (e.g. bracken) produce that make their shoots inedible or less palatable.
A related phenomenon is seasonal heterophylly, which involves visibly different leaves from spring growth and later lammas growth. Whereas spring growth mostly comes from buds formed the previous season, and often includes flowers, lammas growth often involves long shoots.
|
|
