The Common History and Popular Uses of Root

Roots are the part of the plant that is hidden from view; it can be both hazardous and beneficial

to humans. They have been used for drugs and poison. Roots have been the source for myths and

popular legend curses. Humans have a dependence relationship with roots. They depend on roots

for food. Roots are given a special importance because of their chemical properties and how they

may appear. The doctrines of signatures established the idea that the characteristics of a plant

determine its medicinal value.

In ancient times, most people survived on roots and supplemented their diet with meat and fish.

Traps and crude tools were at best inefficient for the regular procurement of food; but, edible

roots were easy to find and quite nourishing. The larger population later developed with the

successful exploitation of grain crops, but the majority of the cultures survived almost

exclusively on root crops. Some of the root crops though, were not used for food but rather

cloaked in mystery because of the psychic powers attributed to them. The story is told of a poor

Chinese peasant some centuries ago who was painfully digging for roots to supplement his diet,

while digging he found a root with a human image. The root was called Ginseng which means

likeness of a man. Because of its shape the root was considered a restorer of human health.

The medicinal value of the ginseng root was mainly psychological and it was believed that its

healing powers were not in the root itself , but in the power the user thinks the ginseng holds.

Recently, Tests have demonstrated that the infusions of the ginseng root may increase resistance

to infection and increase energy in the user.

As a result, there was the discovery of the mandrake roots. Mandrake roots are roots often forked

at the end that forms the man-like shape. The mandrake was classified as an aphrodisiac and was
used as a love amulet or kept around the houses for protection against bad fortune. In the 1630s,

three women were put to death in Germany for having mandrake root in their homes. A

gruesome legend associated with the mandrake was that it was nourished by the dying breaths of

hanged felons. It was believed that if they were pulled from the ground, the mandrake roots were

said to scream horribly. Shakespeare wrote that the shrieks of the mandrake torn out of the earth

that the living immortals, hearing them, ran mad.

Uprooting a mandrake was considered serious in ancient times and was not treated lightly. One

method of extraction was to tie the root to the end of a dog’s tail. The owner hid behind a large

tree, covered their ears and whistled for the dog to pull out the roots. A second method was to

draw three circles around the root and pry it out with a sword.

Similarly, the peony roots were used as lucky charms against storms and devils and were

believed to prevent mental diseases. It also had a lot of myths , one is that the god, Apollo, was

making ardent love for Paeonia, while in the act she saw Venus, who was angry and instantly

turned into a flower. An old herbalist considered hanging peony roots around the neck as

nothing more than superstition. It was only necessary, he said, to carry them in the pocket to

prevent insanity.

The article further went on to talk about Cassava (Manihot esculenta) , a shrubby perennial plant

that grows in the tropical lowlands of South America. The milky latex of bitter cassava contains

hydrocyanic acid, a deadly poison. Brazilian Indians use it to make poison arrows. Cassava is

rich in starch and is quite edible after the poisonous juices are removed. Grated cassava is placed

in a sac and hung from a tree until the juices drip out. This crude cassava meal or farinha can

then be made into cakes and eaten. The juice is also collected and fermented to make a powerful

alcoholic drink. White men and women apparently saw possibilities in this starch-rich root, and
experimented to produce a starchy pellet that we know as tapioca. Tapioca is now grown

throughout the world. The bitter cassava root from which it is made is still a food staple for many

Brazilian Indians.

The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is a tropical vine with a rich fleshy root. The yam,

(Dioscorea sps.), which is sometimes confused with the sweet potato, is a different species

entirely and is, in fact, not a root at all, but a tuber, which is a fleshy underground stem.

No edible root is more important to natives of the Pacific Islands than taro (Colocasia esculenta).

Taro has been cultivated for thousands of years in the South Sea Islands, in China and in other

countries of the Far East. Starchy taro roots are too acrid to be eaten raw, but when they are

baked or boiled they are highly palatable. Pio, the famous pasty supplement to Hawaiian meals,

is a fermented form of taro roots. Dakota Indians would chew calamus (Acorus Calamus) roots

before going into battle. They would spread the chewed paste on their faces in order to remain

calm and composed before their enemies. The Indians also attributed magical powers to this

plant, but it may actually have been the soothing effect of its sweet perfume that gave them peace

of mind. American Indians had a number of other uses for the roots of several other plants.

Among them, several roots and bulbs were used as a source of soap. One type of soaproot was

used by Digger Indians not for washing, but for throwing in mountain streams to stupify trout

and make them easier to catch. Another was used as a ritual emetic before spiritual prayer.

Humans from the earliest times have applied knowledge of roots to supplement their diets and to

add to their colorful mores and traditions. Legends and myths about roots and other plant parts

evolved to make the mysterious understandable.

Roots are used by men throughout history, due to their many possible uses as medicine, food,

toxin and magic.

Roots for poisons, headaches, and belly-aches are consumed as medicine by humans, examples

of some of these are: Atropa belladonna (Belladonna), Asarum canadense (Wild ginger) and

Plantago major (Plantain). Sweet potatoes are eaten for both medicine in Uganda and food in

Japan and the rest of the world. Man history is filled with magic and mystery, charms, love

potion, good luck talisman all of which has a magical root associated with it. Poison and

Insecticide are very important to man, for man for killing insects and killing other men. In 1066

England repelled Danish invaders by poisoning most of the army with belladonna.

In many of men 's traditions and cultures narcotics, intoxicants, and stimulants are used in the

rituals to enhance the feeling of magic and mystery to the events. Lopophora williamsii (Peyote)

roots are used by Mexican tribes and Plains Indians to hallucinate speaking with Hikuli the god

of cactus. As long as humans have been in this world we have found uses for things around us,

roots have been in our diets, history, legends and tradition.

Chapter 5
Questions and Answers
1. What is the principal function of roots? The principal functions of roots are the
absorption of water and nutrients, conduction of absorbed materials into the plant body
and the anchorage of the plant in the soil.

2. What are the types of root systems and how do they differ? The two types of root systems
are fibrous roots and taproot systems. Fibrous root systems consists of several main roots
that branch to form a dense mass while taproot systems are plants with a large storage
root, like carrot and they also consists of one main root from which lateral roots branch

3. How are taproots and fibrous roots formed? When seeds germinate, the embryonic root
extends by the division and elongation of cells to form the primary root. Tap root systems
develop from one primary root, which then forms lateral roots. Further branching results
in successive orders of roots. Fibrous root systems develop in a slightly different way.
The embryos of most grasses have a single radicle, called seminal roots. The seminal
roots emerge soon after the radicle, and all of these roots branch, making a fibrous root
system

4. What are pneumatophores? These are roots that absorb oxygen and increase the
availability of that absorbed oxygen to submerged roots.

5. Distinguish between adventitious roots and prop roots. Ans-the adventitious roots
originate on the stem and leaves, while prop roots develop on the stem above the soil.
Prop roots absorb water and minerals, but they also support the plant in the soil.

6. What is the root cap? The root cap is the site of gravity perception, which controls the
direction of root growth . Root cap cells are constantly being sloughed off at the very tip,
but new cells are added by the apical meristem. The sloughed-off cells can remain alive
in the soil for a time, where they provide nutrients for soil bacteria and fungi in the
rhizosphere

7. What are the three regions of the root tip? The cells in the root tip are organized into three
regions, the root apical meristem, the region of elongation, and the region of maturation.

8. How do the lateral roots grow downwards? lateral roots at particular locations are
controlled by chemical growth regulators that cause pericycle cells to begin dividing at
specific sites lateral roots. As the root destroys the cortical cells and the outer epidermis
and breakdown of these cortical cells is thought to be at least partly the result of digestive
enzymes released from the lateral root primordium.

9. Where is the Endotrophic mycorrhiza located and what is its function? Are fungi that are
found in the roots, they penetrate between the cell walls of the cortex, and it forms a
 covering sheath (or mantle) of fungal hyphae around the entire root. Mycorrhizae allows
more efficient absorption of minerals and nutrients. The Mycorrhizae also secrete
hormones or antibiotic agents that reduce the potential of plant disease.

10. What is the biology function of the exodermis? Exodermis contains casparian strips that
occur at the outer layer of the cortex, on the ins epidermis. This layer is present in many
grass roots and in the aerial roots of orchids. The exodermis also functions to regulate ion
absorption and accumulation.

Rost, T. L. (1978). The common history and popular uses of roots. The American Biology
Teacher, 40(6), 338-341. https://doi.org/10.2307/4446264