Plant roots

thumb|Primary and secondary roots in a cotton plant In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the surface of the soil, but roots can also be aerial or aerating, that is, growing up above the ground or especially above water.

thumb|An antique spurge plant, Euphorbia antiquorum, sending out white rhizomes

thumb|Introductory video animation providing some basic information about mycorrhizas.

thumb|The two types of root systems in plants. The fibrous-root system (A) is characterized by many roots with similar sizes. In contrast, plants that use the taproot system (B) grow a main root, with smaller roots branching off. The letters indicate where the root systems begin.

thumb|upright=1.7| (A) Root system architecture is concerned with structural features of the root and responds to with environmental stimuli. (B) The rhizosphere produces photosynthetically fixed carbon that exudes into the soil and influences soil physicochemical gradients. (C) Free-living or [[parasitic nematodes interact with the rhizosphere via signaling interactions. (D) Mycorrhizal fungi create intimate relationships with the roots and engage in nutrient exchange. (E) Bacterial composition is distinct upon different parts, age, type of the roots.]]

root which grows above the ground

part of a plant. any of the hollow hairlike outgrowths of the outer cells of a root, just behind the tip, that absorb water and salts from the soil

plant part

thumb|right|275px|Grafting, 1870, by Winslow Homeran example of [[grafting]] A rootstock is part of a plant, often an underground part, from which new above-ground growth can be produced. It could also be described as a stem with a well developed root system, to which a bud from another plant is grafted. It can refer to a rhizome or underground stem. In grafting, it refers to a plant, sometimes just a stump, which already has an established, healthy root system, onto which a cutting or a bud from another plant is grafted. In some cases, such as vines of grapes and other berries, cuttings may b

transverse osmotic pressure within the cells of a root system

large, wide roots on all sides of a shallowly rooted tree

thumbnail|Ectomycorrhizal symbiosis, showing root tips with fungal mycelium from the genus [[Amanita]]

painting by Vincent van Gogh

intersection between the root and the stem

network of inward growing hyphae

root structures that aid phosphorus uptake

smallest part of a plant's roots