How to distinguish the root from the rhizome: the main signs

How to distinguish the root from the rhizome? After all, these plant organs are not only consonant with the names, but also very similar in appearance. In fact, it's quite simple.

How to distinguish rhizome from the root: biology will tell

To understand this issue, first we need to remember which organs the body of higher plants consists of. It's an escape and a root. The first of these is the aboveground part. Its components are the stem - the axis of the shoot, on which the leaves and buds are located. This organ serves for air nutrition and vegetative propagation. Under the ground is the root, which securely fixes the plant in the soil.

Plant organs and their modifications

To perform additional functions, plant organs often change. For example, the leaves of a cactus turn into spines to reduce the intensity of evaporation. The situation is different with leeks. His leaves, on the contrary, accumulate water with nutrients in order to survive periods of cold and drought. How to distinguish the root from the rhizome, if outwardly they are very similar and are underground? To do this, you need to know the structural features of each of them.

Features of the structure of the root

The root is the underground vegetative underground organ of the plant. There are three of its varieties: the main, lateral and subordinate. Their totality forms the root system. It can be of several types. In the core, the main root is clearly pronounced, from which the lateral extend. It is typical for plants, which need to extract water from a great depth. And the pimple grows in a bundle. It consists entirely of subordinate roots, which occupy a large suction area.

What is a rhizome?

How to distinguish the root from the rhizome? They both grow underground. However, the latter consists of elongated internodes. Therefore, we can conclude that the rhizome is an underground modification of the shoot. Bundles of accessory roots grow on it, and in the nodes there are kidneys and leaves with arc or parallel venation.

How to distinguish the root from the rhizome?

These organs have not only anatomical, but also functional features. On what grounds is the rhizome distinguished from the root? Underground modified shoot is necessary for the storage of substances, so it often thickens like an iris. For a long time a man uses a rhizome for vegetative reproduction of plants. After all, it contains kidneys, leaves and roots - everything that is necessary for the successful development of the young organism and the process of photosynthesis. Very often rhizomes have weeds. Many truck farmers know how difficult it is to get rid of wheat grass. After all, if you extract leaves from the soil or only part of the underground shoot, the whole body will be restored from its remaining fragments.

Roots are also used for vegetative propagation of plants. However, they do not grow leaves or buds. There are no chloroplasts in the roots. This means that this body does not perform photosynthesis. The root fixes and keeps the plant in the soil, from which it sucks up water with dissolved nutrients, providing an ascending current.

In this article we examined how to distinguish the root from the rhizome. These organs have a number of significant features. The root is an obligatory vital organ of any plant, has no kidneys and leaves, and is also devoid of chloroplasts. Rhizome is an underground modification of the shoot and is characteristic of certain plant species. For example, lily of the valley, mother-and-stepmother, couch grass. Most often, the rhizome is located horizontally under the ground and serves to store substances and vegetative reproduction.