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Other aerial roots are used mainly for structure, functioning as prop roots, as in maize or anchor roots or as the trunk in strangler fig. In some Epiphytes – plants living above the surface on other plants, aerial roots serve for reaching to water sources or reaching the surface, and then functioning as regular surface roots. [31]
Banyan trees are an example of a strangler fig that begins life as an epiphyte in the crown of another tree. Their roots grow down and around the stem of the host, their growth accelerating once the ground has been reached. Over time, the roots coalesce to form a pseudotrunk, which may give the appearance that it is strangling the host.
Nodulose roots become swollen near the tips; example: turmeric. Brace roots arise from the first few nodes of the stem. These penetrate obliquely down into the soil and give support to the plant; examples: maize, sugarcane. Prop roots give mechanical support to aerial branches.
Besides carrying the weight of horizontal boughs, when the main trunk is destroyed due to ageing or accident, the established prop-roots support the remaining plant-body, thus helping in vegetative reproduction. E.g. Ficus benghalensis. The Great Banyan Tree at IBG Kolkata is an example how prop-roots help in vegetative reproduction.
The roots of a tree serve to anchor it to the ground and gather water and nutrients to transfer to all parts of the tree. They are also used for reproduction, defence, survival, energy storage and many other purposes. The radicle or embryonic root is the first part of a seedling to emerge from the seed during the process of germination.
Its viviparous "seeds", in actuality called propagules, become fully mature plants before dropping off the parent tree. [3] These are dispersed by water until eventually embedding in the shallows. Rhizophora mangle grows on aerial prop roots, which arch above the water level, giving stands of this tree the characteristic "mangrove" appearance ...
Roots may develop from the embryo (contained in a seed) or post-embryonically (after germination). [1] In young plants, root functions such as anchorage and resource acquisition (finding and taking up water and nutrients) are carried out by embryonic roots. Embryonic roots include primary roots and in some plants, seminal roots.
Example of aerial roots in the rubber fig (Ficus elastica) Due to the habitat in which R. apiculata occurs, the roots possess a special trait designed to anchor the plant to the soil. [4] [9] It still acts as a normal root through in-taking both water and nutrients with the only difference being it descends from the branches. Aerial roots ...