As an analog for the structural support of the human cocoons in the colony encampment, I am interested in using the stem structure of the grapevine.
The grapevine inflorescence is a complex, highly modified branch system containing reduced shoots and flowers. The complete branch system is called the rachis. It is composed of a basal stem (the peduncle), two main branches (the inner and outer arms), and various sub-branches terminating in pedicles. The shoot is the primary unit of vine growth. They are stem-like green growth arising from a bud. Primary shoots arise from primary buds and are normally the fruit-producing shoots of the vine. 
The main axis of the shoot consist of structural support tissues and conducting tissues to transport water, nutrients, and other photosynthesis products. Arranged along the shoot in regular patterns are leaves, tendrils, flower and fruit clusters, and buds. General areas of the shoot are described as basal (closest to its point of origin), mid-shoot, and apex (tip). The term canopy is used to denote the collective arrangement of the vine’s shoots, leaves and fruit.
The grapevine fruit and flower clusters develop opposite to the leaves, and often grow at the third to sixth nodes from the base of the shoot. The shoot also produces tendrils, which are slender structure that coil around smaller objects to provide support for growing shoots. Tendrils grow opposite to the leaf in the absence of a flower cluster, except the first two or three leaves and thereafter skipping every third leaf. During the growing season, each bud grows into a shoot which bears leaves and generally three clusters of grapes.
