The seelding root and rhizome system of gymnostachys anceps (Araceae) with special reference to contractile roots

Abstract

Studies of the root system of Gymnostachys anceps R. Br. were undertaken on seedlings of known age from the glasshouse and seedlings from the glasshouse and seedlings and mature plants of unknown age from the field, and involved the morphology of the roots, the position of the plant crowns in the soil, and microscopical examination of root sections. The studies showed that the below ground system of the plant consists of (1) long, white, plump nutritive (feeder) roots which also store starch, are contractile in their proximal part and anchor the plant in their main (distal) position, are sparsley branched and lack root hairs, and (2) in older plants, a subterranean axis constituting a short, thick, cylindrical, vertical or near vertical rhizome, also with starch storage, and whose growing point is at the crown of the plant, not at the distal end of the rhizome deep in the soil.