Shoot (botany)

[1][2] The new growth from seed germination that grows upward is a shoot where leaves will develop.

Stems, which are an integral component of shoots, provide an axis for buds, fruits, and leaves.

Young shoots are often eaten by animals because the fibers in the new growth have not yet completed secondary cell wall development, making the young shoots softer and easier to chew and digest.

Some plants (e.g. bracken) produce toxins that make their shoots inedible or less palatable.

A similar pattern occurs in some conifers and in Ginkgo, although the "short shoots" of some genera such as Picea are so small that they can be mistaken for part of the leaf that they have produced.