11.5. Vertical (row) spanning in tables

You can also make a cell span multiple rows vertically. To do this:

Inside the cell's entry element, add an attribute morerows="N", where N is the number of additional rows to be spanned. For example, an attribute of morerows="2" would create a cell that spans three rows.
Wherever a cell is vertically spanned, omit the entry elements from the rows into which it is spanned. For example, if the cell in column 1 of row 1 spans three rows, omit the entry element for column 1 in rows 2 and 3.

Here is our Venus table rearranged to demonstrate vertical spanning:

Table 3. Rising and setting of Venus, 1994

Month	Day	20° N. Lat.		30° N. Lat.
Month	Day	Rise	Set	Rise	Set
Jan.	1	6:21	17:14	6:43	16:52
	11	6:35	17:31	6:56	17:10

Here is the thead section of the modified table; the rest of the table is as described in Section 11.4, “Horizontal (column) spanning in tables”.

          <thead>
            <row>
              <entry morerows="1" valign="bottom">Month</entry>
              <entry morerows="1" valign="bottom">Day</entry>
              <entry namest="rise-20" nameend="set-20" align="center">
                20&#x00b0; N. Lat.
              </entry>
              <entry namest="rise-30" nameend="set-30" align="center">
                30&#x00b0; N. Lat.
              </entry>
            </row>
            <row>
              <entry>Rise</entry>
              <entry>Set</entry>
              <entry>Rise</entry>
              <entry>Set</entry>
            </row>
          </thead>

Although the table has six columns, the second row in the thead element has only the four cells for columns 3-6, because columns 1 and 2 in those rows are occupied by the vertically spanned cells from the previous row.

You can combine vertical and horizontal spanning. If you do, the spanned cell will always occupy a rectangular block of the table. For example, if the cell in row 15, column 3, spans four columns and two rows, it will occupy columns 3–6 of rows 15–16.

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11.5. Vertical (row) spanning in tables