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• Background and Aims A phalanx growth form enables clonal plants to make better use of resource-rich patches, whereas a guerrilla growth form provides them with opportunities to escape from resource-poor sites. Leymus secalinus produces both spreading (guerrilla form) and clumping ramets (phalanx form). Here, the hypothesis that a trade-off between the two growth forms in L. secalinus exists under different resource levels is tested.• Methods Ramets of L. secalinus were grown under three levels of nutrient supply.• Key Results With increasing nutrient supply, the proportion of clumping ramets (in total number of ramets) increased, whereas that of spreading ramets decreased. With increasing nutrient supply, the number of buds increased, whereas biomass per bud decreased. A trade-off between bud number and size further supports the above hypothesis because larger buds were more likely to develop into spreading ramets, and smaller buds into clumping ramets. Mean spacer length between spreading ramets was significantly smaller under the high than under the medium nutrient supply.• Conclusions The results suggest that a trade-off between the two growth forms in L. secalinus exists under different nutrient supplies. Such a trade-off together with plasticity in spacer morphology may enable L. secalinus to make better use of small-scale heterogeneity in resource supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]