This connection stems from the practice of plant propagation through cuttings, where a new plant is grown from a twig or shoot of an existing plant. This method creates genetically identical copies of the original plant, which is essentially the concept of cloning.
The word "clone" was first used in English in the 19th century to describe this method of plant propagation. It wasn't until the 20th century, with the development of techniques like nuclear transfer, that the term "clone" was applied to the creation of genetically identical copies of animals and even humans.