Some plants bear aërial roots, that may propagate the plant or may act as braces. They are often called prop-roots. The roots of Indian corn are familiar (Fig. 38). Many ficus trees, as the banyan of India, send out roots from their branches; when these roots reach the ground they take hold and become great trunks, thus spreading the top of the parent tree over large areas. The muscadine grape of the Southern states often sends down roots from its stems. The mangrove tree of the tropics grows along seashores and sends down roots from the overhanging branches (and from the fruits) into the shallow water, and thereby gradually marches into the sea. The tangled mass behind catches the drift, and soil is formed.
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Fig. 38.—Indian Corn, showing the brace roots at oo. Adventitious Roots.—Sometimes roots grow from the stem or other unusual places as the result of some accident to the plant, being located without known method or law. They are called adventitious (chance) roots. Cuttings of the stems of roses, figs, geraniums, and other plants, when planted, send out adventitious roots and form new plants. The ordinary roots, or soil roots, are of course not classed as adventitious roots. The adventitious roots arise on occasion, and not as a normal or regular course in the growth of the plant. No two roots are alike; that is, they vary among themselves as stems and leaves do. Each kind of plant has its
