Yesterday in the park, I saw something very unusual – stakes sticking out of the ground around a tree. Why would roots need to come out? This morning, I conducted a small study and found the answer, which I am happy to share.
These are pneumatophores – upward-growing respiratory roots of the American bald cypress (in this case). At the top, they have small openings through which air enters the air-carrying system of such roots. Air-carrying – because these roots internally have hollow air ducts. The roots of swamp plants, like this cypress, are in unfavorable conditions in terms of breathing. In the water-saturated soil, various fermentation and decay processes occur, and oxygen in the top soil layers is completely absorbed, so evolution has concocted a way to equip these roots with additional air intakes. That’s why not any tree can grow in swamps, but such adapted ones with vertical roots that extract air can.
