plant morphology a woody storage structure forming a swelling, more or less at ground level, originating from the axils of cotyledons or, less commonly, of one or more pairs of the earliest seedling-leaves, and from whose concealed, dormant buds a new tree can develop —note 1. lignotubers are characteristic of many eucalypts and other Myrtaceae and often form following severe injury —note 2. most eucalypts develop lignotubers at the seedling stage, but in only a few species do these grow to a large size and produce a number of slender stems up to approximately 10 m (33 ft) high (e.g., the mallees)This definition last updated 07/12/2008