Sacrificial leaves.

I don't even know if this is a thing or not with plants, but I've noticed some odd behaviour with one of my Calatheas.

The growing season is well upon us now and all my houseplants are pushing out new growth, some more slowly than others and some multiple leaves at a time.

My stromanthe sanguinea in particular is puzzling me. This plant is thriving. It's pushing leaves out from already formed stems, and also pushing new stems out from the base.

Up until very recently I had two new leaves forming and two new stems poking up from the base. But then one of the leaves just shrivelled and the other one seems to have stopped, whilst the new stems at the base seem to be going strong.

Could it be that the plant is struggling to do all four at once, so it's sacrificed the new leaves in favour of the new stems. It's as if it has focused all it's energy on the new stems and has given up on the leaves.

Can plants actually do this?

 

I'm only an apprentice Gardner but I've noticed my clematis does this . It will prioritise certain stems over others and then if they get damaged will send up its shoots its held back in reserve.
The way it follows the sun each day and raps its tendrils around as well its amazing.