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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.
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]
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.
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 ...
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 ...
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.
These aerial roots can become very numerous. The Great Banyan of Kolkata, which has been tracked carefully for many years, currently has 2,880 supplementary trunks. [11] Such prop roots can be sixty feet (eighteen meters) in height. [12] [13] Old trees can spread laterally by using these prop roots to grow over a wide area. In some species, the ...
The generic name is derived from the Greek words ριζα (rhiza), meaning "root," and φορος (phoros), meaning "bearing," referring to the stilt-roots. [3] The beetle Poecilips fallax is a common pest of these trees, especially Rhizophora mucronata and Rhizophora apiculata. This beetle (related to carver beetles) lays its eggs in the ...