The root of a tree develops the twofold function of absorbing water mixed with mineral salts, and anchoring the plant to the substrate. The former activity is the more important in determining the spreading of a root. If, however, the root is regarded only as a bundle of stiffeners implanted in a semi–infinite elastic medium and we want to optimize its shape, then the problem can be reduced to an optimization problem in elasticity.
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Received June 24, 1997
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Villaggio, P. The roots of trees. Continuum Mech Thermodyn 10, 233–240 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s001610050090
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s001610050090