Growth stage

Growth stage [ Botany - Biology ]	Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names
Synonyms: Stage of the development, Growth phase, Physiological age, Phenological event, Phenological growth stages

A distinct developmental stage in the life cycle of an organism that can be easily recognised.

Plant growth stages: Growth of a plant occurs in several levels (stages) of organization and determine the progress of a plant through the seasons. It has been helpful to divide plant growth into a series of stages even though many events overlap. Biologists have resorted to this reductionist approach, which allows simplified interpretations of what could otherwise be a continuous and complex series of events. Thus stages are not to be thought of as discrete and isolated steps, but as landmarks in a continuous developmental process; they are tools with which to analyze the subtle differences in plant growth. Timing of these growth stages varies depending upon environmental factors, such as elevation and temperature, soil type, availability of moisture, cultivar selected, and geographic location.

There is not an universal uniform coding of phenologically similar growth stages of all flowering plants. But as a general rule we must identify four principal stages:

Vegetative growth
Reproductive growth
Senescence
Dormancy

A. Vegetative growth

Germination
Main shoot growth (comprising Leaf production, Rosette growth or Stem elongation)
Formation of axillary shoots (refers to the development of side shoots and occurs in many plant species)

B. Reproductive growth

Inflorescence Emergence
Flowering
Development of seed
Fruit formation
Ripening

C. Senescence

is defined as the processes that occur near the end of a plant's active life. Conducing to the plant death and collapsing

D. Dormancy

is defined as a suspension of physiological activity that can be reactivated once it is broken

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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