Brainspace – July 2019

26 brainspacemagazine.com @BrainspaceMag /BrainspaceMagazine

The world’s most massive living organism is a root system. A

group of quaking aspens just south of Utah’s Wasatch Mountains share a single root system,

nicknamed Pando (Latin for “I spread”). Stretching across 106 acres and weighing 13

million pounds, this system is certainly unique but shares a goal with every root on Earth:

to provide plants with nutrients to survive and thrive in environments mild and wild.

Roots

Taproot and Adventitious

Root Systems

No root works alone; each plant

has an entire root system that

follows a certain arrangement

(called root architecture). These

can look downright zany, but

they work strategically to best

serve their plants’ genetic and

environmental needs. Availability

and location of water, terrain,

and temperature all affect roots’

angles, depths, lifespan, and

overall pattern.

Some root systems start with

a plant’s seedling. A single, thick

root called the radicle emerges

and grows downward into the

soil during germination, earning

the title “primary” root and

Taproots adventitious roots

BY GRACE BUELER

botany