Plants may have no muscles, but they can grow upwards against the strain of gravity and their roots can even shift soil and rocks – because their cells can absorb water to form strong structures. Now ...

When you admire a towering oak or a vibrant maple in your backyard, you’re only seeing half the picture. Beneath the surface ...

Gardeners often are told that after planting or transplanting, they should water frequently until the plant is “established.” But what does that mean, exactly? “It’s all about the roots,” said Sharon ...

Researchers have discovered how plant roots adapt their shape to maximize their uptake of water, pausing branching when they lose contact with water and only resuming once they reconnect with moisture ...

Plants use their roots to search for water. While the main root digs downwards, a large number of fine lateral roots explore the soil on all sides. Interestingly, lateral roots appear to already 'know ...

Plant roots are industrious, often burrowing in search of water even if it means dislodging things like pavement and sewer lines. But how is it exactly that they sense a source of water and nutrients ...

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 87, No. 3 (1990), pp. 1203-1207 (5 pages) Magnetic resonance imaging was used to study sand containing various ...

Radial transport of water in excised barley (Hordeum distichon, cv. Villa) roots was measured using a new method based on the pressureprobe technique. After attaching excised roots to the probe, root ...