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A clonal colony is a group of plants (or fungi) that have grown in a given location, all originating vegetatively, not sexually, from a given single ancestor. With non-vining woody plants, clonal colonies usually arise by underground stolons, or wide-ranging roots that send up new plants at intervals. With vines, the simple rooting of the vine in the soil at intervals establishes clonal colonies. Many creeping herbaceous plants simply divide into more than one plant as they creep, forming large clonal colonies. Ferns often spread in this way. One exception with ferns is the ostrich fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris, which forms large clonal colonies via underground stolons. Many herbaceous flowering plants form clonal colonies via surface stolons, or runners. Strawberries are well-known for this.
When woody plants form clonal colonies, they often remain connected through the root system, sharing roots, water and nutrients. Some non-vining woody plants of North America that form clonal colonies include:
Fungi also form immense clonal colonies below the surface of the soil.
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