Editing Root (section)

==Economic importance==
[[File:Roots and Soil Erosion.jpg|thumb|Roots can also protect the environment by holding the soil to reduce soil erosion.]]
[[File:World Primary Crops Harvested Area By Commodity Group.svg|thumb|Roots and tubers are some of the most widely harvested crops in the world.]]
The term [[root crop]]s refers to any edible underground plant structure, but many root crops are actually stems, such as [[potato]] tubers. Edible roots include [[cassava]], [[sweet potato]], [[beet]], [[carrot]], [[rutabaga]], [[turnip]], [[parsnip]], [[radish]], [[Yam (vegetable)|yam]] and [[horseradish]]. Spices obtained from roots include [[sassafras]], [[angelica]], [[Smilax regelii|sarsaparilla]] and [[licorice]].

[[Sugar beet]] is an important source of sugar. [[Yam (vegetable)|Yam]] roots are a source of [[estrogen]] compounds used in [[birth control pill]]s. The fish [[poison]] and [[insecticide]] [[rotenone]] is obtained from roots of ''[[Lonchocarpus]]'' spp. Important medicines from roots are [[ginseng]], [[aconitum|aconite]], [[Syrup of ipecac|ipecac]], [[gentian]] and [[reserpine]]. Several legumes that have nitrogen-fixing root nodules are used as green manure crops, which provide nitrogen fertilizer for other crops when plowed under. Specialized [[bald cypress]] roots, termed knees, are sold as souvenirs, lamp bases and carved into folk art. [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] used the flexible roots of [[Picea glauca|white spruce]] for basketry.

[[Tree]] roots can heave and destroy [[concrete]] sidewalks and crush or clog buried pipes.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Zahniser |first=David |date=2008-02-21|title=City to pass the bucks on sidewalks?|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-feb-21-me-sidewalk21-story.html|access-date=2023-03-30|journal=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|language=en-US}}</ref> The aerial roots of [[strangler fig]] have damaged ancient [[Maya architecture|Mayan]] [[temple]]s in [[Central America]] and the temple of [[Angkor Wat]] in [[Cambodia]].

Trees stabilize soil on a slope prone to [[landslides]]. The [[root hair]]s work as an anchor on the soil.

[[Vegetative propagation]] of plants via cuttings depends on adventitious root formation. Hundreds of millions of plants are propagated via [[cuttings (plants)|cuttings]] annually including [[chrysanthemum]], [[poinsettia]], [[carnation]], ornamental [[shrub]]s and many [[houseplants]].

Roots can also protect the environment by holding the soil to reduce soil erosion. This is especially important in areas such as [[sand dunes]].
[[File:OnionBulbRoots.jpg|thumb|right|Roots on onion bulbs]]