. Botany for agricultural students. Plants. 138 ROOTS In anchoring the shoot most soil roots perforin an important function, except in those plants with stems prostrate on the ground or climbing supports. In plants with upright stems, as in trees, the strains due to winds and gravity when the plant is bearing foliage and fruit is often enormous. However, the root system is usually able to hold the plant in place, although the strains may break off })ranches or even the main stem. It is by spread- ing laterally and profusely branching, that roots become so firmly attached to large masses of soi
. Botany for agricultural students. Plants. 138 ROOTS In anchoring the shoot most soil roots perforin an important function, except in those plants with stems prostrate on the ground or climbing supports. In plants with upright stems, as in trees, the strains due to winds and gravity when the plant is bearing foliage and fruit is often enormous. However, the root system is usually able to hold the plant in place, although the strains may break off })ranches or even the main stem. It is by spread- ing laterally and profusely branching, that roots become so firmly attached to large masses of soil that they can endure enormous strains. In addition to anchoring the plant and furnishing it water and mineral matter, in many plants the roots function as storage or- gans, in which some of the food made by the shoot each year is stored for use in the development of new shoots each succeeding year. This function is especially obvious in many plants which die down in the fall and grow up again in the spring. Thus the root depends upon the shoot for food while the shoot de- pends upon the root: (1) for water and mineral matter; (2) for an- chorage; and (3) often as a storage organ. Types of Root Systems. — There are various irregularities among root systems, due to the altera- tions which a root system must make in adjusting itself to obstruc- tions and the uneven distribution of water and mineral matter in the soil. For this reason root systems are less symmetrical than shoots. However, despite these irregulari- ties there are some inherent differ- ences that are so regular as to be typical of certain plants. In the Corn, Wheat, Oats, and Grasses in general, there is the type of root system, known as the fibrous root system, in which there are no dominant main roots, but all roots are small and with. Fig. 122. —The fibrous roots of Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration
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