nodes help to establish and spread the plant and to produce new 
plants if stolons are broken. 
Rhizomes are stems that originate at the base of the main stem 
and grow horizontally below the ground surface. They have 
nodes, internodes, and scalelike leaves. Roots grow from the un- 
derside of the nodes; shoots (stems and leaves) grow from the 
topside. 
Stems of most perennial grasses die back to the approximate 
base of the stem each year. However, in the basal part of the 
grass leaf that has been 
separated from the stem 
5 
