Roots

Abstract

By the end of embryogenesis, dicot plants have made two meristems, one which will form the aboveground shoot system, and one which will form the root system. Roots of a great variety of forms are found among the flowering plants. For example, prop roots provide support for developing shoot systems in many monocot families such as grasses and palms (Bell, 1991). The stilt roots of mangroves are covered in air-transporting lenticels which facilitate the aeration of the root system growing in anaerobic conditions. More familiar examples of specialized roots are to be found in the storage roots of root vegetables such as carrots and turnips in which the primary root becomes a swollen storage organ. While such a diversity of root form is to be observed in nature, a simpler system has a number of advantages for the study of development and other root-related processes.