Horsetails In the case of
horsetails, vegetative shoots exist in form of sterile shoots, which are shoots on which spore-bearing
strobili are not produced. In temperate zones, it is usually produced later than the spore-bearing shoot. The sterile shoot is the asexual phase – the
sporophyte. Its function is to carry out photosynthesis and produce reserve substances, which, stored in the rhizome and the shoot tubers located on it, enable the development of the spore-bearing shoot and the production of spores. Additionally, due to their function, the sterile shoot is often much larger than the spore-producing shoot, a notable case of this can be observed in
Equisetum telmateia, also called the great horsetail, where the sterile shoot is said to reach heights of 1.5 to 2 meters, while the spore-producing shoot's stems only reach 25-30 cm in height. or producing variations of leaves that may not serve a strictly assimilative purpose, such as in certain
Platycerium species.
Seed plants In seed plants, the term
sterile shoots refers to shoots that do not produce flowers. Their opposite is the flowering shoot, which produces flowers. Some species of these plants have only flowering shoots, while others have sterile shoots alongside flowering shoots. Examples of such shoots include (but are not limited to) rhizomes and
stolons, which are underground and above-ground variants of a typical vegetative shoot respectively, and modified shoots which store energy and nutrients for the rest of the plant, such as
bulbs and
tubers. == Uses in vegetative propagation ==