Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.” —Marshall Cohen, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association
ROOT CAPTURE
ROOT CAPTURE. The seed of a tree may blow into the canopy, the upper levels, of a tree. Given light and water, the seed begins to grow. As the roots extend downward, they eventually touch the soil where growth speeds up. If the seed grows multiple roots, the host tree is eventually "captured" by the roots which broaden. Unable to expand its truck, the host plant eventually dies and rots away. The roots of the parasitic tree can prove capable of holding the tree upright. The result of a strange tree with no trunk continuing to grow.