Taproots and fibrous roots

Do all plants have the same kind of roots? In your book, students gently dig out small herbs with a khurpi (a small trowel), wash the roots and look at them. Then they replant the herbs so they can keep growing.

A mustard plant has one main root, with small side roots growing from it. A root like this is called a taproot. The hibiscus has a taproot too.

A common grass plant is different. Its roots are a bunch of thin roots, all of a similar size, growing from the base of the stem. There is no main root. These are called fibrous roots. If you have ever pulled up grass, you have seen them holding on to the soil all around.

So look for one of two shapes: one main root with side roots (a taproot), or a bunch of similar thin roots (fibrous roots).