Young Brunette Girl Posing On Tree Roots At The Bank Of The Sea On The Rocky Coast

• Aerial roots: roots entirely above the ground, such as in ivy (Hedera) or in epiphytic orchids. They function as prop roots, as in maize or anchor roots or as the trunk in strangler fig.
• Contractile roots: they pull bulbs or corms of monocots, such as hyacinth and lily, and some taproots, such as dandelion, deeper in the soil through expanding radially and contracting longitudinally. They have a wrinkled surface.
• Coarse roots: Roots that have undergone secondary thickening and have a woody structure. These roots have some ability to absorb water and nutrients, but their main function is transport and to provide a structure to connect the smaller diameter, fine roots to the rest of the plant.
• Fine roots: Primary roots usually <2 mm diameter that have the function of water and nutrient uptake. They are often heavily branched and support mycorrhizas. These roots may be short lived, but are replaced by the plant in an ongoing process of root 'turnover'.