A type of stem is called a rhizome.
The etymology of rhizome refers us to a Greek word that can be translated as "root" . A rhizome is a type of stem that grows underground and horizontally, giving rise to shoots and roots through its nodes.
Thanks to their indefinite growth, the rhizomes can advance and cover a very important surface. It is common for certain sectors to die over the years, but outbreaks continue to occur in other areas .
Those plants that have rhizomes belong to the group of perennials (they survive more than two years). Although the surface sectors are lost in the winter, the rhizome remains and allows the storage of nutrients underground.
Structure and classification of rhizomes
It is possible to divide the rhizomes into different fragments, making sure that each has at least one bud , and then plant them separately so that they continue to develop. This is because the rhizome enables asexual reproduction of the plant: from a fragment of the body or a single cell, a complete individual can develop through mitosis .
A possible classification of rhizomes is established based on their branching and growth, in such a way that we find the following two groups:
* sympodial : they are the rhizomes in which each of their portions arises when a successive axillary bud develops. The portions also possess what are called epigeal shoots , which form from their terminal buds . Two rhizomes belonging to this class are Paspalum nicorae and Sanseviera thyrsiflora ;
* monopodial : they differ from the previous ones in that the terminal bud promotes the growth of the rhizome indefinitely. On the other hand, they also have epigeal shoots, produced by the axillary buds. A large number of weeds (also called weeds , undesirable plants or weeds ) respond to these characteristics, and a clear example is Sorghum halepense .
The ginger rhizome is used as a condiment.
ginger
Zingiber officinale , popularly known as ginger , is an example of a plant that has a rhizome. This is used as a condiment in gastronomy, valuing its spicy flavor and fragrance.
The ginger rhizome is usually scratched or squeezed to take advantage of its juice. Multiple recipes use this plant.
Rhizome in philosophy
In philosophy , on the other hand, the notion of rhizome was developed by Félix Guattari and Gilles Deleuze to name an epistemological model in which all elements are able to influence the others. They presented it in the theoretical work titled " Capitalism and Schizophrenia ", published in two volumes: " The Anti-Oedipus ", in 1972; " A Thousand Plateaus ", in 1980.
The rhizome model describes elements that are not subject to hierarchical subordination; On the contrary, the reciprocal position of two or more elements does not matter: any predicate that is affirmed of one of them can incur the conception of the others. In other words, it does not have a center , something that made it very attractive to semiotics, communication theory and the philosophy of science and society of its time.
The name refers to the botanical notion explained at the beginning of the article, since in these plants their shoots can generate branches anywhere or become a tuber or bulb, regardless of their position in the structure . These characteristics serve to explain the cognitive system in which there are no central points, that is, statements or propositions of greater importance than the others and that are supported by strict processes of logic or rigid categories.
The authors point out that the rhizome is also known as antifoundationalism , given that there is not a number of first principles that derive from the structure of knowledge but rather they all influence each other and elaborate it at the same time.