• Essentially a repeating series of nodes, internodes, leaves, and buds
o As plants grow, number of nodes, internodes, and leaves increases
o Once a part of the shoot system forms, it does not increase much in size over time.
Instead, plants grow by adding more parts.
• As with roots, shoot diversity can be analyzed on three levels:
o morphological diversity
o phenotypic plasticity
o modified shoots with specialized functions