rhizome

rhizome

a thick horizontal underground stem of plants such as the mint and iris whose buds develop new roots and shoots

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

rhizome

a concept developed by Gilles DELEUZE and Félix GUATTARI in Rhizome: an Introduction (1976). At its simplest, the rhizome indicates a means of thinking other than in conventional, ‘arborescent’ ways. Those latter forms are seen to have dominated Western thought, imposing on ‘vertically inclined’ structures which introduce hierarchies and specific, static ‘placings’. In contrast, rhizomic approaches attempt to proceed in other directions, that is, outwards and horizontally avoiding regulation.

Collins Dictionary of Sociology, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2000

rhizome

[′rī‚zōm]

(botany)

An underground horizontal stem, often thickened and tuber-shaped, and possessing buds, nodes, and scalelike leaves.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Rhizome

 

the underground stem of perennial herbs differing from a root by the presence of small scaly or filmy leaves (that leave scars after dropping off), by the lack of a root cap at the end of the growing part, and, anatomically, by the presence of parenchyma.

Buds form in the nodes or sinuses of the leaves of the rhizome that annually produce new underground shoots and secondary roots. These utilize the nutrients stored in the rhizome. New shoots also form after the death of the aboveground part of the plant as a result of unfavorable conditions (for example, drought) or of crushing or eating by animals. In some plants (orchard grass, timothy), the rhizomes are short and the shoots that form on them above ground grow in a thick bunch. In others (reeds or couch grass), the rhizomes are long, grow rapidly, and branch. After the old parts of the rhizome die off, the underground shoots that have formed on it individuate (that is, vegetative reproduction occurs). The rhizomes in some plants are greatly thickened, tubes forming on them (usually at the ends) that contain primarily carbohydrates. Some rhizomes contain medicinal substances (as in the medicinal valerian), dyes (as in elecampane), or tannins (as in willow grass). Plants with long rhizomes are used to fix sandy soils.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.