Whenever, I am in a park – I always pull on grass. I am curious what’s lurking right under the soil. This time I decided to look at the roots. It’s quiet remarkable that these little hair thin structures penetrate through all kinds of soils and find resources for the plant.

I pulled a grass and put one single grass root thread on a double sided tape and mounted it in my 140x foldscope.

I was happy to see cells organized along the root growth axis. Since roots have been studied as a model system for development and morphogenesis; it’s nice to be reminded of the shape and form of these hairs.

Puzzle: Surprisingly, I also noticed green chlorophyll pigment only at the tip of the root. Otherwise most of the root was colorless or white. So why would that be – I am still wondering why the tip would have cells with chlorophyll. No light penetrates the soil – so what good would that do. If you have ideas, please leave them as comments below.

Next time you uproot a weed; don’t miss out on watching the roots – an invisible but a crucial part of a plant.

Cheers

Manu