A runner is a long, thin stem – a type of stolon – that extends along the surface of the soil from the axil of a plant's leaf. It serves to propagate the plant. At points (nodes) along its length, a runner has small leaves with buds that develop shoots and roots and turn into small independent plants as the runner dies. Runners are produced by such plants as strawberries and creeping buttercups. See also asexual reproduction.