Tree Roots
Many of us urbanites do not give tree roots much thought. But on occasion they force themselves onto our consciousness: when they crack up a tarmac road in their insistent search for nutrients and water, or when they bulge up between paving stones becoming trip hazards.
©Wendy Gan 2025
A mere nuisance perhaps?
Though sometimes I come across examples that make me ponder their reach and power.
©Wendy Gan 2025
Then there are the astonishing buttress roots so common to tropical trees of great height. In an attempt to maximise nutrients on the surface and to gird themselves as they grow tall, tropical trees develop dramatic flanges at the base of their trunk.
©Wendy Gan 2025
Given the space to develop, these buttress roots transform the base of a tree into a most fluid and eye-catching feature. You’d be ready to believe that such a tree could easily reach out and touch you, wouldn’t you?
