Specialized Roots
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Food Storage Roots
In certain plants the roots,
or part of the root system,
is enlarged in order to store
large quantities of starch
and other carbohydrates.
Carrots, beets and turnips
have storage organs that
are actually a combination
of root and stem.
Approximately, the top two
centimeters of a carrot are
actually derived from the
stem.
Examples: Sweet Potatoes,
beets, carrots
Specialized Roots
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Water Storage Roots
Plants that grow in particularly
arid regions are known for
growing structures used to
retain water. Some plants in
the Pumpkin Family produce
huge water storing roots. The
plant will then use the stored
water in times or seasons of
low precipitation. Some
cultures will harvest the water
storing root and use them for
drinking water. Plants storing
up to 159 pounds (72
kilograms) of water in a single
major root have been found
and documented.
Specialized Roots
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Propagative Roots
To propagate means to
produce more of oneself.
Propagative root structures
are a way for a plant to
produce more of itself.
Adventitious buds are buds
that appear in unusual places.
Many plants will produce
these buds along the roots
that grow near the surface of
the ground. Suckers, or aerial
stems with rootlets, will
develop from these
adventitious buds. The ‘new’
plant can be separated from
the original plant and can
grow independently.
Specialized Roots
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Pneumatophores
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Breathing roots to help
plants that grow in very
wet areas like swamps
get enough oxygen.
These roots basically
act like snorkel tubes for
plants, rising up above
the surface of the water
so that the plant can get
oxygen.
Examples: Mangrove
trees and bald cypress
Specialized Roots
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Aerial Roots
There are many different kinds of aerial roots
produced by a wide variety of plants. Orchids
produce velamen roots, corn plants have prop
roots, ivies have adventitious roots and vanilla
orchids even have photosynthetic roots that can
manufacture food. Banyan trees have aerial
roots that grow down from the tree branches
until they touch find the soil. In a nutshell, aerial
roots are roots that are not covered by soil
hence out in the air. They can facilitate climbing
and various types of support as demonstrated
by ivies and creeper plants.
Specialized Roots
Specialized Roots
Specialized Roots
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Buttress Roots
Buttress roots (stilt roots or prop roots) are
large roots on all sides of a shallowly rooted
tree. Typically, they are found in nutrientpoor rainforest soils and do not penetrate to
deeper layers. Almost all types of mangroves
have these types of roots. They prevent the
tree from falling over (hence the name
buttress) while also gathering more nutrients.
Specialized Roots - Buttress
Specialized Roots
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Contractile Roots
  The contractile roots continually pull the
plants deeper into the ground as the stem
elongates so the it remain subterranean or
at an appropriate level in the ground..
Contractile roots are usually broad, fleshy,
vertical, tapering, wrinkled looking and
very distinct of the rather cylindrical fine
absorbent roots and are capable of
incredible effort.
-  Lily Bulbs.
Specialized Roots - Contractile
Specialized Roots - Parasitic
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Parasitic Roots
Parasitic roots are found in non-green parasitic
plants. These plants cannot make their own
food and obtain food from the host. These
plants have no chlorophyll necessary for
photosynthesis. Dependent on chlorophyllbearing plants for their required food materials,
adventitious roots from the nodes of these
plants penetrate into the host tissue (via peglike projections called haustoria) and enter into
its conducting tissue (water-conducting and
food-conducting) to acquire their nutrition.
-  Dodder
Specialized Roots - Parasitic
Dodder
Mycorrhizae
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Mycorrhizae form a mutualistic association
with plant roots.
  Fungus is able to absorb and concentrate
phosphorus much better than it can be
absorbed by the root hairs.
-  Particularly susceptible to acid rain.
Mycorhizae