the plant
"by division."

95. =A Stolon= is a branch from above ground, which reclines or becomes
prostrate and strikes root (usually from the nodes) wherever it rests on
the soil. Thence it may send up a vigorous shoot, which has roots of its
own, and becomes an independent plant when the connecting part dies, as
it does after a while. The Currant and the Gooseberry naturally multiply
in this way, as well as by suckers (which are the same thing, only the
connecting part is concealed under ground). Stolons must have suggested
the operation of _layering_ by bending down and covering with soil
branches which do not naturally make stolons; and after they have taken
root, as they almost always will, the gardener cuts through the
connecting stem, and so converts a rooting branch into a separate plant.

96. =An Offset= is a short stolon, or sucker, with a crown of leaves at
the end, as in the Houseleek (Fig. 91), which propagates abundantly in
this way.

[Illustration: Fig. 91. Houseleek (Sempervivum), with offsets.]

97. =A Runner=, of which the Strawberry presents the most familiar and
characteristic example, is a long and slender, tendril-like stolon, or
branch from next the ground, destitute of conspicuous leaves. Each
runner of the Strawberry, after having grown to its full length, strikes
root from the tip, which fixes it to the ground, then forms a bud there,
which develops into a tuft of leaves, and so gives rise to a new plant,
which sends out new runners to act in the same way. In this manner a
single Strawberry plant will spread over a large space, or produce a
great number of plants, in the course of the summer, all connected at
first by the slender runners; but these die in the following winter, if
not before, and leave the plants as so many separate individuals.

98. =Tendrils= are branches of a very slender sort, like runners, not
destined like them for propagation, and therefore always destitute of
buds or leaves, being intended only for climbing. Simple tendrils are
such as those of Passion-flowers (Fig. 92). Compound or branching
tendrils are borne by the Cucumber and Pumpkin, by the Grape-Vine,
Virginia Creeper, etc.

[Illustration: Fig. 92. A small Passion-flower (_Passiflora sicyoides_),
showing the tendrils.]

99. A tendril commonly grows straight and outstretched until it reaches
some neighboring support, such as a stem, when its apex hooks around it
to secure a hold; then the whole tendril sho