tuber

(noun)

a fleshy, thickened, underground stem of a plant, usually containing stored starch, as for example a potato or arrowroot

Related Terms

Examples of tuber in the following topics:

  • Stem Modifications

    • Tubers are modified stems that may store starch, as seen in the potato.
    • Tubers arise as swollen ends of stolons, and contain many adventitious or unusual buds (familiar to us as the "eyes" on potatoes).
    • Shown are (a) ginger (Zingiber officinale) rhizomes, (b) a carrion flower (Amorphophallus titanum) corm (c) Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana) stolons, (d) strawberry (Fragaria ananassa) runners, (e) potato (Solanum tuberosum) tubers, and (f) red onion (Allium) bulbs.

  • Asexual Reproduction in Plants

    • A potato is a stem tuber, while parsnip propagates from a taproot.
    • (d) Potato plants form fleshy stem tubers.
    • Each eye in the stem tuber can give rise to a new plant.

  • Root Modifications

    • Storage roots (for example, taproots and tuberous roots) are modified for food storage.

  • Transportation of Photosynthates in the Phloem

    • Seeds, tubers, and bulbs can be either a source or a sink, depending on the plant's stage of development and the season.
    • They are also directed to tubers for storage.

  • Prions and Viroids

    • These potatoes have been infected by the potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTV).