Trying to think of the simile

I want to use something as a simile, but I can't think of what it is. It is a kind of plant that reproduces itself as it grows; I have a mental picture of something that I think I have seen a picture of before; it is a plant that grows on the ground; then I guess it puts in a new root, and reproduces itself, forming a chain of clusters; each plant has leaves spreading out from it; I don't think this is quite the same thing as ivy; it's more like a sort of flower or leafstalk; the plants are all connected to one another as they grow.
This could be too vague for anyone to pin down; I think its a kind or type of vegetation, rather than necessarily any particular species; there's probably a botanic name for it.
I want to use it as a simile for generations, as in Ex 20.5b, to give a sense of the generations, as viewed from a god's-eye-view, above space and time, as being just one connected and spreading organism. That could be one of of several possible explanations as to why succeeding generations are punished for the guilt of their forefathers; they are basically the same thing.