Roots: Plant Structure and Function

Summary

This lecture delves into the structure and function of angiosperm plant bodies, focusing on the interdependence of the shoot and root organ systems. It explores the three primary root functions: anchoring, nutrient absorption, and gas exchange. The lecture distinguishes between taproot and fibrous root systems, emphasizing the role of root hairs and mycorrhizae in nutrient uptake. It also touches on root modifications for storage and support, and their economic significance in food, medicine, agriculture, and more.

Takeaways

• 🌿 Angiosperms, or flowering plants, have two organ systems: the shoot system (above ground) and the root system (below ground).
• 🌱 The root system performs three main functions: anchoring the plant, absorbing water and nutrients, and storing food.
• 🍃 Eudicots have a taproot system with a main root and lateral roots, while monocots have fibrous roots that branch out immediately from the stem.
• 🌱 Roots absorb essential minerals like ammonium and phosphate ions, which are crucial for plant growth and nitrogen cycling.
• 🌳 Mycorrhizae, a mutualistic relationship between fungi and plant roots, aid in the absorption of phosphate ions.
• 💧 Roots are responsible for taking up water and oxygen from the soil, with oxygen being vital for cellular respiration.
• 🌱 Root hairs increase the surface area for absorption, allowing for more efficient uptake of water and minerals.
• 🚦 The vascular cylinder in roots contains xylem and phloem, which transport water and nutrients throughout the plant.
• 🌱 Some roots are modified for storage, holding starches and sugars that can be used by the plant when photosynthesis is not occurring.
• 🌿 Roots exhibit indeterminate growth, meaning they can continue to grow as long as resources and conditions are favorable.
• 🌱 Roots have adaptations like aerial roots in epiphytes, and some roots are parasitic, stealing nutrients from other plants.

Q & A

What are the two main organ systems in plants?

The two main organ systems in plants are the shoot organ system and the root organ system.

How are the shoot system and root system of a plant interdependent?

The shoot system and root system are interdependent because the root takes in products and/or makes products that are important for the shoot system, and the shoot system makes and transports products that are important for the root organ system.

What are the three main functions of roots in plants?

The three main functions of roots in plants are anchoring the plant, absorbing water and nutrients, and food storage.

What is the difference between a taproot and a fibrous root system?

A taproot system has a main root with lateral roots coming off of it, typically found in eudicots. A fibrous root system has roots that branch out immediately from the stem without a main root, typically found in monocots.

Why do roots need to absorb oxygen from the soil?

Roots need to absorb oxygen from the soil for cellular respiration in their cells, as they require oxygen to produce ATP.

What is the role of mycorrhizae in plant roots?

Mycorrhizae are mutualistic relationships between fungi and plant roots that aid in the absorption of phosphate ions, improving the plant's nutrient uptake.

How do root hairs contribute to a plant's ability to absorb water and minerals?

Root hairs are extensions of the plasma membrane in root cells that increase the surface area for absorption of water, minerals, and other nutrients.

What is the purpose of the vascular cylinder in roots?

The vascular cylinder in roots contains the xylem and phloem tissues, which are responsible for transporting water, minerals, and sugars throughout the plant.

How do plants regulate the absorption of water and minerals into their roots?

Plants regulate the absorption of water and minerals through selective transport proteins in the root hair cells and the presence of a waxy, hydrophobic Kasparian strip that prevents unregulated movement of water and minerals into the xylem.

What are some economic roles of roots in agriculture and industry?

Economic roles of roots include being a source of food (e.g., carrots, beets), ingredients for herbal teas and medicines, materials for dyes, and their use in crop rotation to replenish soil nitrogen.

Outlines

00:00

🌿 Overview of Angiosperm Plant Body

The lecture introduces the structure and function of flowering plants, focusing on the interdependence of the two organ systems: the shoot and root systems. The shoot system, typically above ground, and the root system, typically below ground, exchange products crucial for their survival. The lecture will explore each organ's structure and how it facilitates its function, such as leaves, stems, and roots. Roots are highlighted for their three main functions: anchoring the plant, absorbing water and nutrients, and storing food. The structural differences between eudicot (taproot) and monocot (fibrous roots) plants are discussed, along with the role of bacteria in nitrogen fixation and the absorption of minerals like ammonium and phosphate ions.

05:02

🌱 Root Functions and Absorption Mechanisms

This section delves into the root's role in water and nutrient absorption, emphasizing the importance of root hairs for increasing surface area. It explains how roots absorb water and minerals through both symplastic and apoplastic pathways, regulated by the selective permeability of the plasma membrane and the presence of the Casparian strip. The lecture also touches on the mutualistic relationship between plants and mycorrhizal fungi, which aids in phosphate absorption. Additionally, the physical structure of roots, including the vascular cylinder with xylem and phloem, is described, highlighting the differences between eudicot and monocot roots.

10:03

🌱 Growth Patterns and Hormonal Regulation in Roots

The paragraph discusses how plants exhibit indeterminate growth, which is influenced by resources and the plant's structure. It explains primary growth occurring at the tips of roots and shoots through apical meristems, which are regions of stem cells. The process of cell division, elongation, and differentiation in roots is described, leading to the formation of root hairs and the connection to the vascular cylinder. The response of roots to gravity, known as positive gravitropism, is attributed to the hormone auxin, which affects cell elongation. The paragraph also introduces various modifications of roots, such as aerial roots in epiphytes and adaptations for parasitic plants.

15:03

🌳 Economic and Ecological Roles of Roots

This section covers the economic importance of roots, including their use as food, in the production of herbal teas and bitters, and as a source of various medicinal compounds. It also discusses the role of roots in agriculture, particularly in crop rotation for nitrogen replenishment and in preventing soil erosion. The paragraph mentions the use of roots in dye production, such as red root and smooth sumac, and in the creation of soap from saponin-containing roots. The lecture concludes by emphasizing the significance of understanding roots' economic roles for various applications.

20:04

📚 Summary and Learning Resources for Plant Roots

The final paragraph serves as a summary, reminding students to review the provided packets and notes to gain a comprehensive understanding of plant roots. It suggests that the information covered in the lecture is essential for learning about the various aspects of roots in plants.

Keywords

💡Angiosperm

Angiosperms, also known as flowering plants, are the most diverse group of land plants. They are characterized by their flowers, fruits, and seeds enclosed within an ovary. In the context of the video, angiosperms are the focus for understanding plant body structure and function, particularly the organization into organ systems.

💡Organ System

An organ system in plants refers to a group of organs that work together to perform a set of related functions. The video discusses two primary organ systems in plants: the shoot system (above ground) and the root system (below ground), emphasizing their interdependence.

💡Taproot

A taproot is a type of root system characterized by a prominent main root from which lateral roots emerge. The video uses the taproot system as an example of how structure facilitates function, with eudicots typically having taproots for anchoring and nutrient absorption.

💡Fibrous Roots

Fibrous roots are a type of root system where roots emerge directly from the base of the plant and branch out immediately. Unlike taproots, they lack a dominant main root. The video contrasts fibrous roots with taproots, noting that monocots often have fibrous roots.

💡Vascular Cylinder

The vascular cylinder is the central part of the root that contains the xylem and phloem, responsible for the transport of water, minerals, and sugars throughout the plant. The video explains how the vascular cylinder's structure differs between eudicots and monocots, with implications for plant function.

💡Root Hairs

Root hairs are extensions of certain epidermal cells at the root tip that increase the surface area for absorption of water and minerals. The video highlights their importance in the root's function of water and nutrient uptake.

💡Mycorrhizae

Mycorrhizae are mutualistic associations between fungi and plant roots that facilitate better absorption of nutrients, particularly phosphate ions. The video describes how mycorrhizae enhance the plant's ability to absorb nutrients, benefiting both the plant and the fungus.

💡Nitrogen Fixation

Nitrogen fixation is the process by which atmospheric nitrogen is converted into a form that plants can use. The video discusses the role of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the soil and nodules on plant roots, which is crucial for plant nutrition and the nitrogen cycle.

💡Growth from Tips

Plants grow from their tips, which are regions of active cell division known as meristems. The video explains that primary growth occurs at the tips of roots and shoots, which is essential for the elongation of the plant body.

💡Gravitropism

Gravitropism is the growth response of a plant to gravity, where roots grow downwards and shoots grow upwards. The video describes how roots exhibit positive gravitropism, using hormones like auxins to sense and respond to gravity, ensuring proper orientation for growth.

💡Economic Roles

The economic roles of roots include their use as food, in the production of herbal teas, as ingredients in medicines and health supplements, and in agriculture for soil improvement and erosion control. The video provides examples of how roots contribute to various economic sectors, emphasizing their practical importance beyond their biological functions.

Highlights

Plants have two organ systems: the shoot organ system and the root organ system.

The shoot organ system is typically above ground, while the root organ system is below ground.

Roots and shoots are interdependent, with each providing essential products for the other.

Roots have three main functions: anchoring, absorbing water and nutrients, and food storage.

Eudicots have a taproot system, while monocots have fibrous roots.

Roots absorb minerals, such as ammonium and phosphate ions, which are essential for plant growth.

Nitrogen fixation bacteria in soil nodules help plants obtain nitrogen.

Mycorrhizae, a mutualistic relationship with fungi, aid in phosphate absorption by plant roots.

Root hairs increase the surface area for absorption of water and minerals.

Roots have a vascular cylinder containing xylem and phloem for transport of water, minerals, and sugars.

Water and minerals enter plant roots through regulated channels and transport proteins.

The Casparian strip, a waxy layer, regulates the movement of water and minerals into the xylem.

Some roots are modified for storing organic nutrients like starch and sucrose.

Plants exhibit indeterminate growth, growing from their tips as long as resources are available.

Root growth occurs at the apical meristem, with cells differentiating into various root structures.

Roots respond to gravity through positive gravitropism, aided by the hormone auxin.

Aerial roots are adaptations for plants like epiphytes that absorb water and nutrients from the air.

Parasitic plants use roots to steal nutrients from other plants.

Roots can be modified for support, such as buttress roots in certain tree species.

Roots have economic importance, including as food sources (e.g., carrots, beets) and in agriculture for crop rotation.

Roots are used in the production of herbal teas, medicines, and dyes.

Transcripts

okay this is a lecture about the

angiosperm plant body so we're looking

at flowering plants and specifically

structure function I think we're gonna

have a lecture for each of the organs

and so let's look at that overall so we

know there's an organism and then the

grouping or the category which I say the

next level of organization under an

organism is the organ system so plants

have two organ systems the chute organ

system and the root organ system

typically the chute organ system is

above ground and the root is below

ground but that's not always true

they're interdependent meaning that the

root takes in products and/or makes

products that are important for the

shoot system and the shoot system makes

products take some products the

transports products that are important

for the root organ system so there's all

kinds of labels on here you just want to

know this it's pretty straightforward

and we'll look at them as we go through

each of the organs but here are the

three main organs the leaf organ the

stem organ and then the root root organ

here roots have I'm classifying it into

three major functions and we'll see how

the structure of roots facilitate the

function so the first function is to

anchor vascular plants and they absorb

water and nutrients large part minerals

which are metal ions from the soil you

also see in a minute that roots are

going to actually take up oxygen from

the soil because they need that for

foetus that excuse me for cellular

respiration in their cells

so yes roots quote-unquote breathe I

wouldn't call it that because breathing

is an active process but these are they

do gas exchange and then also food

storage some roots are modified for that

so let's look at anchoring let's just

look at two main types of roots in

general the eudicots or you can call

them eudicots that's one group of

flowering plants it is the most

widespread and diverse of the the

angiosperms today they have what's

called taproot so we have a main route

here and then we have lateral roots

coming off of it and then you have subs

lateral roots coming off of that

and a monocot which is another type or

another group of angiosperms have what

we call fibrous roots so you can see at

the end of the stem and this would be

the part below ground

the leaves are excuse me the roots just

come off the stem and then they branch

out right away they don't have this main

root and you can see here that fibrous

part I do have to say that I have dug up

plants in the yard before and I know

they're eunuch offs because of their

leaves and other and they're poking of

flowers and all that but they have

fibrous roots sometimes Woody fibrous

roots which is you'd expect woody to go

with you dicots and so what I discovered

is that if you grow a eudicot plant from

a cutting so sometimes with plants you

can cut part of a parent plant and then

grow it into a new plant if you do that

most of the time are often it will form

fibrous roots the new plant so this

going for the seed is when you get the

tap root so anyway do you ever pull up

planting like I did this with hibiscus

once and I was like I know hibiscus

isn't you dicot why does it have fibrous

roots or at least structure of fibrous

roots not a tap root and that turned out

to be what second function roots

absorbing water and minerals from the

soil so the minerals themselves are

things like ammonium ions and phosphate

ions we're looking at ions here and part

of what is the cycling in the

environment that plants are really

important for here is nitrogen so in

order for animals to get nitrogen they

can't take it up directly they have to

eat a plant or eat something that ate a

plant and where did the plants get their

nitrogen they get it from absorbing it

from the soil or they can get it from

these bacteria in the nodules so the

soil is going to have nitrogen

being formed into products that the

plant can absorb by bacteria the

nitrogen fixation bacteria and then the

ammonification nitrification

so all those bacteria that live in the

soil and there's other groups that the

types of bacteria like rhizobia we

talked about that in the bacterial

section that live in these little

nodules on certain types of plants and

those bacteria fix nitrogen in there why

would they need new nitrogen they need

for nucleic acids and this is true of

all organisms all organisms have to

build RNA and DNA chaff the nitrogenous

bases and they have to build proteins

which are made of amino acid subunits

which have amino groups which have

nitrogen in them then you need phosphate

atoms for ATP triphosphate and nucleic

acids again your DNA and RNA have

phosphate groups and then the absorption

of those is aided by mycorrhizae so the

mycorrhizae or remember is this

mutualistic relationship between the

fungus you can see that here and the

root the root cells and you can see the

fungus branches into the root the fungus

helps the plant absorb phosphate ions

better so that's a mutualistic

relationship so we have both of those

water is also brought in through the

roots for the plant so when you water a

plant you watering the leaves is not

going to do anything if it's really hot

out it might cool the leaves down which

could be helpful just the water

evaporation taking away the heat but

it's not going to be able to get water

in through its leaves it has to get

water in through the roots and so that's

why you water the soil instead of the

leaves of a plant and then you can see

also like I mentioned oxygen is coming

into those roots for cellular

respiration in the mitochondria because

every cell in the plant that's living

does cellular respiration to make ATP

and then co2 is a byproduct of cellular

respiration and in the roots because

there's no photosynthesis it's not used

up there it's just released into the

environment

we also have a physical structure called

root hairs then sir root hairs are these

cells that have an extension of the

plasma membrane so you can see all these

circles are our individual cells and

these ones just have a long extension

and what that does is it increases

surface area for absorption of water

minerals and that would be across the

membrane through channels and

transporters but the root hairs they're

so little it doesn't have very much

volume so it doesn't actually require

much more energy and resources to

maintain but it gets you a lot more

absorption but the thing to note about

the roots is that first of all they have

what we call a vascular cylinder so the

vascular cylinder in both of them you

can see is in the middle vasculature

refers to the types of tissue that move

things around the plant just like our

like our cardiovascular system is you

know what you're looking at the heart

and then all the blood vessels in this

case their version of vessels are the

xylem carrying water and minerals from

the root and the phloem which is

carrying sugars primarily and that's

going to the root we'll see where that's

made later this is basically taking a

root and you've cut it and now you're

looking down on it

so the vasculature is in the middle in a

route you dicot has its asylum in the ex

shape which is convenient so it has

these and then the phloem is around the

arms of the xylem

whereas the monocot root has a ring of

xylem and phloem okay so you just want

to be able to identify that if I gave

you a picture of a cross-section which

is a monocot which is a you die pod is

it a root is the stem the point of this

I'm not going to be too detailed about

it at least unless I let you know

differently is that the ranking there's

regulation of what goes into a plant

water can't water and minerals can move

two different ways one is actually going

into the root hair into the cytosol and

being transported through the

plasmodesmata between cells until it

gets to the xylem and so this growing

across the plasma membrane means it has

to go across in a regulated way because

the only way to get in is by going a

mentioned through channels and transport

proteins and their selective right so

that's the regulation however there is

another way that water and minerals can

get into a plant root so it's actually

it's called a plastic and what it is is

that it kind of travels along the cell

walls and the hydrophobic or the scuse

me the hydrophilic characteristic of the

cellulose and the water can hydrogen

bond together and so it can travel

between the cells really and so that's

not selective so in the end though in

order to have selectivity there's this

strip of waxy material and it's in

between all the cells so this is

actually wraps around the whole cell and

waxes are lipids and lipids as we know

are hydro phobic so that means when the

water and minerals get to this Kasparian

strip the waxy layer they can't get

through hydrophobic hydrophilic and so

then they are transported or or shunted

into the cell and then have to go if

they get in across the membrane and then

there's more regulation and so it's

actually in the end it never just gets

to go into the vasculature unless it

goes through some transport proteins

the third function I mentioned was that

some routes are modified to store

organic nutrients and by organic

molecules

I pretty much mean starch which is a

polysaccharide type carbohydrate and

then the plant can access that starch

and break it back down into glucose

monomers in order to use it later when

maybe it's not doing photosynthesis and

making those carbohydrates all the time

there's also some storage of the sucrose

itself that's why you can get you know

sugar beets sugar is the sucrose and

carrots are a little bit sweet it's also

Oh like when you cook beets if you cook

them like by cutting them up real small

they get caramelized it's very sweet and

that's because there are those those

sugar storage in there it's also why

nutritionally you have to consider root

vegetables pretty much a carbohydrate

and a carbohydrate that can be used in

humans for energy also why if you're

somebody who's diabetic you have to take

into account like a carrot is not like

eating a lettuce leaf lettuce leaf is

mostly cellulose carbs those don't we

can't break those down but a carrot has

the carbohydrates we can break down into

glucose in the form of starch you're

trying to make sure your glucose stays

at a certain level you do have to

consider the glucose that will come from

eating a root vegetable like carrot so

plants only grow from their tips tips of

the chutes which are the branches and

the main stem and the tips of the roots

and that's how they get longer so

primary growth is growing longer just

some terms and some interesting things

so determinate growth which is what we

think of usually animals because we are

one there basically means the organism

grows to a certain size and then that is

the life you know that's the adult

version of the organism and then it just

stops

so that's determinate plants exhibit

indeterminate growth it's dependent upon

resources and structure of the plant but

they can just keep

as long as they have those resources and

space and the structure to keep it

oriented correctly so they would just

keep growing from the tips and you might

hear these terms when you do gardening

so annual plants mean that they go from

seed to seed so they're grow from the

seed and produce seeds themselves in one

year biennials would be completing life

cycle in two years and then perennials

would live for many years so perennials

are the ones you plant in your garden

and then they look like they die or they

go away but then they'll come back the

next year our basis plants all monocots

some new dicots

what that means is that they are not

woody so they're real you know bendy

type stems they look green versus woody

stems some you dicots and this is also

for roots too ok so primary growth I

mentioned it's just at the tips all

growth in plants happens at regions of

stem cells so these meristem so though

named meristem the word there so stem

cells so the meristem is where these

stem cells are located apical so you can

think of I'm not sure if you're familiar

being Mike Smith you might know the word

apex a PE X apex which is like the apex

of a mountain is the top of it so apical

meristems are the mara stands at the

tips these are ones on the roots where

the purple is showing and so the roots

only grow from the tips you probably in

bio one looked at onion root tips

because there was mitosis to see cell

division so why is there cell division

that's where the stem cells are so

you've got a root cap on the end that

helps protect the root as it's pushing

through soil then you have the region of

division which makes sense because as it

divides it's just going to grow from the

tips so it has the dividing cells and

then elongates then they differentiate

and you can see like for example become

a root hair cell lateral

actually they're gonna have to connect

to the vascular cylinder right because

that's where all the water minerals go

into the rest of the plant also where

the food comes down into the root and so

what it actually does is it grows out of

the vascular cylinder pushes through and

then you have a lateral root and it's

connected with xylem and phloem there

and this is a cool picture here you can

see the vascular cylinder here it's a

root and you can see the attachment of

this lateral root 2 that vascular

cylinder so the plants grow down through

the tips they can also grow laterally

but it's still through tips how to roots

know where to grow they respond to

gravity so positive gravitropism means

it grows towards the direction of

gravity and so you can see here here's a

root growing sideways and if you left it

that root would curb down to grow

towards gravity and why does that happen

that happens because of hormones so if

you recall hormones are like ants or

ligands that are produced in one part of

an organism and then travel to another

part of an organism or even outside of

the organism and work there

remember the ligand or ligand is the

signaling molecule and then just recall

with signaling the ligand binds the

receptor and that's reception then

there's a bunch of molecular steps that

happen in between called transduction

and then something in the end happens we

call it a cellular response how do the

roots detect gravity there's certain

types of cells with the saddle lifts in

them which are like sacs of membrane and

I bleed they're usually filled with

starch but we got these sacs here and so

this root has been turned on its side

okay so this root has been turned like

this on its side and so what happens the

saddle lifts fall in the cell in the

cytoplasm and they end up on the side of

the cell where gravity is and in a root

there's a hormone in it's in other parts

of the plant but the hormone that I'm

going to concentrate on here are the

auxins so auxins job when it's in

relatively low concentrations it

stimulates cells to elongate and if you

have it in high concentrations it

inhibits the cells from elongating and

if you have no oxen it's not going to

elongate either so what happens is that

the falling of the Stata ellipse induces

a difference of toxin production so the

side that's away from the stat ellipse

basically this side of the root is going

to end up with lower aux-in so auxin

will turn on but not too much so that

makes the cells on that side get longer

the concentration on this bottom side

here towards gravity has a lot of

options so it's a high concentration

which means the cells actually don't

elongate so if you have cells elongating

on the top and not the bottom and so

that bends the route towards gravity and

that's why even if you turn a plant

upside down the roots will turn around

if you will and grow towards gravity so

here's some modifications of roots so

there's some roots that are outside of

soil so we call these epiphytes epi

means on top of fight is going to be

plants

phyto plant or plant like so epi fights

are plants that live on top of other

plants or they could live like on a

power line or something and so they have

roots called aerial roots you can see

those here in orchid that's a classic at

the fight and here's this aerial roots

and so basically they are going to

absorb they still absorb the water they

just have to do it through water vapor

epiphytes don't hurt the plants then

there's also adaptations for nutrition

parasitic plants will live on other

plants or other organisms and they

basically steal their new tree

so mistletoe ironically even though it's

a you know winter Christmas holiday I

love you thing is actually a parasitic

plant that kills the plant it's growing

on and it doesn't look like Halle

Berry's either look up what mistletoe

looks like it's totally different than

what you probably think in any case it

does do photosynthesis but it's gonna

steal the nutrients from that plant then

you have some very unusual plants though

that don't even do photosynthesis they

get all their carbon from being a

parasite on other plants there are other

organisms don't we talked about storage

roots that's an adaptation to store

starches and sugars until later we have

modifications for supporting plants some

of these are angiosperms and some are

gymnosperms the buttress roots you can

see here few different types of trees

and in fact if you look around houston

we have them all over the place there's

cypress trees these are very large but

reserves

obviously that's a person and they are

kind of sheets that come out from upper

up on the trunk so their roots part of

its above ground which is you know more

unusual and they are going to help

support that tree from falling over

typically that's because it's in some

sort of boggy so like you'd see in

either of these there's also a type of

root similar function called prop root

Corrin has it it's a hollow tree in

Hawaii

you also have roots that help plants get

oxygen or probably this is probably

their function so they're new metaphors

pneumo is always meaning like lung it's

gonna be the the oxygen gas exchange

might have also heard them called knees

so mangroves are classic new matter for

plants cypress trees besides the

buttress roots they also have no matter

force for probably gas exchange up here

so all of these are just extensions of

parts of the roots of all these other

trees of all the trees

there's also roots that can grow around

plants so often you see stem

growing around other plants but roots

can do it too some of them are strangler

roots which means they kill the host in

the end and often they'll kill the host

and then they have the structure now of

the host basically and they'll just

exist because they can stand up now you

might also see them growing on buildings

they're quite destructive and then we're

looking at economic roles that's

something important I will ask you about

tell me some economic roles of each stem

or each organ in plants so food so you'd

want to know

food examples of roots carrots beets

sugar beets sweet potato not yam yam and

sweet potatoes are different sweet

potato though radishes turnips parsnips

tapioca cassava we also have drinks to

Zayn's or tis ons are we call them

herbal tea and some of those are made

with roots like if you look on herbal

teas you'll see often it says this root

mark mallow root and valerian root and

all that kind of stuff

bitters that you might use in alcoholic

beverages are primarily roots some types

of medicine sort of alternative

medicines or supplementary medicines

some of which have supported function

and some of which don't but they're you

know people use by a lot of these so

it's monetarily important so health

supplements like ginseng is a root it's

supposed to give you energy I don't

think there's a lot of evidence for that

one licorice root though can help with a

twith the pain so cough drops to soothe

the pain in the throat might have

licorice root in it - thanks there are

teas with licorice root in it that are

supposed to be for sore throats and

stuff and then if you look at essential

oils a lot of those are roots as well

like valerian is a classic one and those

are used for a variety of purposes some

of which are useful and some of which

are perhaps not supported

you just have to be careful with that

then we also have economically

agriculture you can't just say roots are

part of plants we grow plants because

their crops and so roots are important

that's know but you can specifically say

roots the ones from legumes or clovers

that have the nodules can be important

in crop rotation and so that's because

it replenishes nitrogen to the soil

which then the next year when you plant

different crops it has nice it has

nitrogen in the soil so it's good for

that next round of crops of food for

grazing livestock ie like grasses and

then grasses because of those fibrous

fruits also help with erosion prevention

so if you're having problems with you

know parts of your yard or or river bank

of roading plant some grass on there and

you can keep that alive it'll help

prevent the erosion which is important

there also dies if you're going to use

die as an example in your on your exam

you need some specific examples of die

because pretty much every plant part can

probably you used for a die you cannot

use it for all five plant parts but in

this case we have a red matter root and

smooth sumac for black those have been

used in the past to dye things you can

also make soap ingredients out of roots

so saponin are like surfactants their

soap type molecules and so you cough can

be used for that supports I have some

pictures of that here so so we've got

soapwort plants so now you should have

enough information to fill in any

packets or notes that I've given you to

learn about the plant roots