page_title: Taproot
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Taproot / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: 1/4 lb carrots produced through community-supported agriculture Esperanto: tri karotoj pezantaj kvaronan funton
context_page_description: A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproot is a storage organ so well developed that it has been cultivated as a vegetable.
  The taproot system contrasts with the adventitious or fibrous root system of plants with many branched roots, but many plants that grow a taproot during germination go on to develop branching root structures, although some that rely on the main root for storage may retain the dominant taproot for centuries, for example Welwitschia.
context_section_description: Dicots, one of the two divisions of flowering plants (angiosperms), start with a taproot, which is one main root forming from the enlarging radicle of the seed. The tap root can be persistent throughout the life of the plant but is most often replaced later in the plant's development by a fibrous root system. A persistent taproot system forms when the radicle keeps growing and smaller lateral roots form along the taproot.
  The shape of taproots can vary but the typical shapes include:
  Conical root: this type of root tuber is conical in shape, i.e. widest at the top and tapering steadily towards the bottom: e.g. carrot.
  Fusiform root: this root is widest in the middle and tapers towards the top and the bottom: e.g. radish.
  Napiform root: the root has a top-like appearance. It is very broad at the top and tapers suddenly like a tail at the bottom: e.g. turnip.
  Many taproots are modified into storage organs.
  Some plants with taproots:
  Beetroot
  Burdock
  Carrot
  Sugar beet
  Dandelion
  Parsley
  Parsnip
  Poppy mallow
  Radish
  Sagebrush
  Turnip
  Common milkweed
  Cannabis
  trees such as oaks, elms, pines and firs
caption: The edible, orange part of the carrot is its taproot
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