Rootstock

A rootstock is the base and root portion of grafted plant where a scion is grafted onto. Rootstock is selected and used when a crop cannot be successfully reproduced from seed, such as apples, or when a plant's natural root system is undesirable, such as incresaed suseptibility to diseases or limited growing conditions.

Scions and rootstock must be from closely related species for the graft to be successful. Pitted fruit like cherry and plum, for example, can be rootstock and scion for each other, but an apple tree cannot be used as rootstock for a plum scion and vice versa.