They also assist climbing aroids such as your Monstera to latch onto the bark of trees and allow the plant to climb higher and reach more sunlight.

Their main purpose is to anchor a plant into the soil better. They provide a very strong hold for the plant to stay securely where it chooses to be. They are extra strong, anchoring threads that make sure the plant sticks where it likes. The Purpose of Aerial RootsĪerial roots are used by the Monstera in the same way we use ropes to tie a tent down in a storm. However, on spider plants, the aerial roots are used to help baby plants get a good start in life. For example, on pothos, the aerial roots are used to climb. In many of these species, aerial roots can have a slightly different purpose. These are roots that emerge from anywhere on the plant other than the normal root system.Īerial roots are seen on many different tropical plant and tree species like orchids, ficus, philodendrons, anthuriums, Pothos, spider plants, mangroves, and certain vines such as common ivy. Aerial roots are also sometimes referred to as adventitious roots. Over time this aerial root will turn a darker brown color and become woody and strong. This small bump will extend and stay a whitish yellow color if it is young. A node is defined as the area in which a leaf emerges from, and it is usually thicker than the rest of the stem. At first an aerial route will be a small yellow bump that grows from a node on your Monstera. The strange growth is called an aerial root and is one of many types of roots that grow from your Monstera plant. Monsteras are native to the tropical regions of central and south America where they can be found attached and climbing large trees or spread out across an open field.

Aerial roots are present on all types of Monstera from the smaller Adansonii to the largest Deliciosa.Īerial roots are an adaptation used to help the Monstera survive better in its natural habitat. This can end up looking unsightly which is why the “How To Make Aerial Roots Less Messy” section will prove valuable. Oftentimes, aerial roots do not exactly grow straight down into the pot and instead may grow sideways. However, they’ll keep growing and extending out from the plant, bewildering many owners. At first, aerial roots can look like a new leaf is emerging. This is why so many new Monstera owners can be alarmed if they see something strange emerging from their Monstera‘s stem. Instead, many people purchase them for the splits in their leaves, called fenestrations. Aerial roots contained a greater number of raphide crystal cells per unit volume of cortex than lateral-subterranean and aerial-subterranean roots, although the two types of subterranean roots contained a relatively greater number of trichosclereids per unit volume of cortex than did aerial roots.Monsteras aren’t necessarily known for their aerial roots. Aerial and lateral-subterranean roots also differed quantitatively in the size of their quiescent centers and steles.

In aerial roots, trichosclereid development and storied cork initiation occurred at a distance much further from the apex than they did in lateral-subterranean roots.

This difference in growth was correlated with the initiation and maturation of certain cell types and tissues and with quantitative differences in the numbers of cortical idioblasts. The elongation rates and zonation of aerial-subterranean and lateral-subterranean roots remained approximately constant with time. The accelerated elongation rate of aerial roots was correlated with an elongation zone that enlarged with time. Aerial roots had the greatest elongation rate and greatest elongation zone. The three root types differed in anatomical development and in growth. Three types of roots are found in Monstera deliciosa: aerial roots, aerial roots that have entered the soil (aerial-subterranean roots), and lateral roots that form on aerial-subterranean roots (lateral-subterranean roots).

Aerial roots monstera