Runners and stolons

Runners are horizontal stems that grow above ground, usually along the surface (compare with rhizomes). Strawberry plants produce runners after the first flowering of the season, they may extend out up to 3 feet or more beyond the parent plant. Along the runner, adventitious buds will develop in order to propagate new plants. Stolons are similar to runners, except that they grow roughly vertically beneath the surface of the soil. Irish potato plants have tubers at the tips of stolons.