establish vascular connections. These roots may produce other stems directly,
known as suckers, which are genetically the root not the cultivar. Occasionally,
cells from the rootstock of a graft occur above ground, mixed with cells from the
scion, making a chimera, e.g. Laburno-cytisus, which has brownish flowers
deriving from a mix of yellow flower cells from the Laburnumscion and purple
flower cells from the Cytisusstock.
A plant is flexible in its growth form and can be trained into shapes quite
unlike the wild plant. Hedge trimming stimulates axillary side shoots to grow
and this can be refined further to topiary, making a tree a recognizable shape, or
training fruit trees to espaliers or fans. The most extreme example is the
miniaturizing of trees to bonsai, developed in Japan, through elaborate root
trimming and other techniques applied over a long period.N4 – Plants for other uses 241