aerial root

…for aerial support, are called prop roots, as in corn or some figs (Ficus; Moraceae). In many tropical rainforest trees, large woody prop roots develop from adventitious roots on horizontal branches and provide additional anchorage and

Aerial roots that develop from its branches descend and take root in the soil to become new trunks. One tree may in time assume the appearance of a very dense thicket as a result of the tangle of roots and trunks. One individual, known as…

Certain adventitious roots, known as aerial roots, either pass for some distance through the air before reaching the soil or remain hanging in the air. Some of these, such as those seen in corn (maize), screw pine, and banyan, eventually assist in supporting the plant in the soil. In many…

…feature of most mangroves is aerial prop roots, which form a tangled jungle, even after the main roots and stem bases of the trees have decayed.

…of most mangroves is aerial prop roots, which form a tangled jungle, even after the main roots and stem bases of the trees have decayed.

…from their trunks and stems aerial prop roots that are often huge; those, together with their terminal crowns of swordlike leaves, give the plants a distinctive appearance. The genus is characterized by numerous long, narrow, parallel-veined, palmlike leaves with spiny margins and midribs that are produced in tufts at the…

benjamina), develop aerial roots from their branches and send them straight down through the air. When they reach the ground, these roots grow into the soil, thicken, and become additional "trunks." In this way stranglers grow outward to become large patches of fig forest that consist of…

…trees that spread by dropping prop roots from their branches. The habit is well developed in several tropical figs (Ficus), including one popular in small sizes as a houseplant—the rubber plant (F. elastica). Most noteworthy of the group is the banyan tree (F. benghalensis) of India; its numerous prop roots…