Which plant commonly produces suckers as a form of vegetative propagation?

• A. Pineapple
• B. Chrysanthemum
• C. Banana
• D. Strawberry

Answer: (C)

Suckers are new shoots that arise from the base or underground parts of a plant and can grow into independent plants. Bananas routinely send up these shoots, called suckers or pups, from the base of the clump. Farmers harvest or separate a healthy sucker and plant it to produce a new banana plant. This form of vegetative propagation is especially common for bananas because the edible varieties are typically sterile and rely on these basal shoots to multiply.

The other plants use different methods. Strawberries spread primarily by runners (stolons) that form new plants at a distance, not true suckers from the base. Chrysanthemum is usually propagated by cuttings or division, not by suckers. Pineapple can produce slips or other offshoots, but the classic example most people think of for suckers at the base is banana.