Detachable plant part

Detachable plant part [ Botany ]	Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names

One of several kind of plant parts that naturally detach or drop on slight buffeting which have properties between seeds and vegetative offshoot that serve as an alternative to seeds for reproduction.

Detachable segments of Tephrocactus molinensis
The the uppermost segments drop easily on slight buffeting and (under favourable conditions for growth) they will develop into a complete plant identical to the parent plant.

Many species of plant have evolved special detachable vegetative fragments which have properties between seeds and vegetative offspring directly connected to the mother plant, and serve as an alternative to seeds. Such fragments are larger than seeds therefore they contain more resources, and are transported some way from the mother plant
The combination of generative reproduction and of clonal growth may solve the problems of diffusion of some species in their environment.
This method of reproduction is called separation which encompass the use of naturally detachable asexual bodies or organs, as offsets, stolons, plantlets, stem segments, succulent leaves, bulbs and corms which - when placed under environmental conditions favourable for regeneration - will develop into a complete plant with characteristics identical to the parent plant.
For example: The segments and cladodes of some cacti or the succulent leaf of some Echeveria

See also: separation

But a number of easy detachable parts have also been developed by plants for purposes different than reproduction, for examples glochids, and spines of certain opuntia.

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Holdfast roots [ Botany ]
Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names

Some species of climbing plants develop holdfast roots which help to support the vines on trees, walls, and rocks. By forcing their way into minute pores and crevices, they hold the plant firmly in place.

Climbing plants, like the poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata), and trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans), develop holdfast roots which help to support the vines on trees, walls, and rocks. By forcing their way into minute pores and crevices, they hold the plant firmly in place. Usually the Holdfast roots die at the end of the first season, but in some species they are perennial. In the tropics some of the large climbing plants have hold-fast roots by which they attach themselves, and long, cord-like roots that extend downward through the air and may lengthen and branch for several years until they strike the soil and become absorbent roots.

Major references and further lectures:
1) E. N. Transeau “General Botany” Discovery Publishing House, 1994