Stolons?

[Greg Ruckert]

A quick check of the web revealled only one definition source.

Dictionary  of Life Science Technology:
stolon
Author: Mirrored from Jim Croft's Flora of Australia
Definition:
A ground-lying or trailing stem that produces roots at the nodes.

stoloniferous
Author: Mirrored from Jim Croft's Flora of Australia
Definition:
Having stolons; trailing over the soil surface and rooting at the nodes.

>Since a stolon is a stem above or below ground, the
>way to tell if any Arisaema are really stoloniferous would be to put a
piece
>under the microscope.

I suspect that this would not reveal anything as, in Arisaema, I would find
it difficult to concieve that they could be anything other than stem cells.

> A stolon is a stolon regardless of how deeply it grows.

Disagree.  The authority who put me in my place is Director of collections
at the California Academy of Science.  The point here is definition.

>I also see that rhizomes are defined as horizontal, underground rootstocks.
>In my mind, these persist from season to season, while the stolons wither
>away after the new plant at the tip has been establishes.

Does this mean that Arisaema are not rhizomatous?  Again I defer to a far
more knowledgeable person in Peter Boyce.  I would suggest that nobody else
suggests that our babies are "rootstock" in his presence (unless you are
ready for a lengthy reasoning on why they are not).

>Furthermore, I
>tend to think of rhizomes as rooting along their length, while stolons only
>root at the tip where the new plant develops.

Seems a quite reasonable differentiation.

>From my non-botanist perspective, I think it is safe to keep using our
>current terminology. Most everyone seems to know what we're talking about
>when we use the term 'stolon'. Comments/corrections welcome.

I would prefer to have someone (help please Wilbert) set us right so that we
can use the correct terminology.  Clearly the references we have mentioned
are not clear on this.

Greg Ruckert
Australian Areae Collection
http://www.ezi-learn.com.au/areae/default.html