Gross Morphology of Tap Roots of Desert Cucurbits

Abstract

A comparison of the gross morphological features of the roots of four species of gourd plants, Cucurbita foetidissima, C. digitata, C. palmata, and A podanthera undulata was made, and their general range and habitat observed. The subterranean organs of these plants develop into very prominent tap roots capable of storing copious quantities of water within their large parenchyma cells. The tap root of each species is quite distinctive. C. foetidissima has a very much elongated turbinate root; that of C. digitata is more spherical and turnip-shaped; while that of C. palmata is more intermediate and bifurcates uniformly just below the main tap root; A. undulata is somewhat similar to C. palmata in the manner of forking, but the central tap root is less enlarged and the members of the fork, which are almost as large as the central root, grow horizontally in opposite directions. Although the roots of the plants are quite large, they develop in the upper few feet of soil with large, horizontally oriented latera...