Root Systems
Botanical illustrations often include the root system of a plant. Botanical illustration was birthed as a means of recording plants for identification purposes. Historically, an expedition would travel to a foreign land with the express purpose of bringing back as many specimens of plants and animals as possible. Plants perish quickly, so they were drawn as quickly as possible. Many plants were too large to fit on a single piece of paper, so individual parts of the plant were drawn separately. The root system was just as important to a plant’s identification as the rest of it!
There are two basic categories of root systems: taproots and fibrous roots. Taproots consist of one main root, which is elongated in shape and grows deep ...
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