runner

runner or stolon, slender, creeping stem capable of taking root where its nodes touch the ground and thereby producing new shoots. The runner itself usually dies at the end of the season, leaving independent new plants. Among the plants that propagate by means of runners are the strawberry, the black raspberry, white clover, and some grasses.

runner A stem that grows horizontally along the soil surface and gives rise to new plants either from axillary or terminal buds. Runners are seen in the creeping buttercup and the strawberry. Offsets, e.g. those of the houseleek, are short runners.

runner In botany, a long, thin stem that extends along the surface of the soil from the axil of a plant's leaf and serves to propagate the plant. At points (nodes) along its length, a runner has small leaves with buds that develop shoots and roots and turn into small independent plants as the runner dies. Runners are produced by plants such as strawberries and creeping buttercups. See also asexual reproduction