Monocot or Dicot?

Adventitious Roots

Because many monocots have shallow root systems (the fibrous system has many secondary roots that spread more on top than they grow deep into the ground), secondary or adventitious roots will be produced.  Adventitious roots are roots which develop from stems.  Below are some examples.

 

adventitious.jpg (45663 bytes) This is the bottom of a stem of bamboo.  The small adventitious roots are not functional, but they do illustrate how monocot steps can produce adventitious roots.  This can happen in corn plants.
adventitious1.jpg (54879 bytes) These are real adventitious roots.  The plant is Pandanus, the screwpine (Pandanaceae).  The picture was taken on the grounds of the Bermuda Biological Station for Research.
adventitious3.jpg (59116 bytes) This is another example of a monocot with adventitious roots.  The plant is a Philodendron, and in the long growing season of Bermuda, where this picture was taken in the Botanical Gardens, they get quite lush.  The roots are coming off stems in this instance, and are therefore called adventitious.
adventitious2.jpg (67247 bytes) As always, there are exceptions to the rule.  This Ficus at the Bermuda Botanical Garden is a dicot.  It is in the Moraceae.  These are notorious for the production of significant numbers of adventitious roots, shown here.