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Definition of "rootstock" [root•stock]

  • See rhizome. (noun)
  • A root or part of a root used as a stock for plant propagation. (noun)
  • A source or origin. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "rootstock" in a sentence
  • "An example of the superiority of the black walnut over the Persian walnut as a rootstock is a seedling of the variety Wiltz Mayette growing near a Broadview grafted on black walnut."
  • "He found that one kind of rootstock turned on twice as many stress tolerance genes in the scion as the other — and that that scion was more resistant to a bacterial disease called fire blight."
  • ""You usually have a rootstock which is well adapted to growing, deep roots, disease resistant ... and then you put your desired variety at the top."