ROOT GRAFTS SOME UNDERSTORY TREES PARASITIZES LARGER ONES OF THE SAME SPECIES THAT IS CANNIBALISM OR ANIBALISMUS?
Types of Grafts.
Metrosideros robusta habitually encircles its host tree with lateral root bands that rejoin the main descending aerial root at about the same level (c.f. Laing and Blackwell, 1940 Matted aerial roots of M. excelsa probably graft together (c.f. Cockayne, 1928, fig. 4). Aerial roots of Nothopanax arboreum fuse about their host. One specimen shows roots of this species completely coalesced around a Podocarpus ferrugineus trunk 1½ inches in diameter.
Exposed root systems as in upturned Nothofagus, Nothopanax or Laurelia often show two roots from the same tree joining together at some distance from the butt, and carrying on as a single root. Grafts of this kind are extremely common in the three genera mentioned. These roots meeting the roots of an adjacent tree of the same
Grafted roots of U. americana (Courtesy of N. Tisserat, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA)
Root grafting in trees refers to morphological interconnections occurring between roots of the same tree (self-root grafting), of different trees of the same species (intraspecific root grafting) or of trees of that belong to different species (interspecific root grafting). Functional root graft connections consist of joined bark phloem, cambium, and xylem derived from two or more previously distinct roots. As a result, the biological processes of the trees involved can be strongly influenced by each of the grafted participants separately . A grafted group may function as a unit in response to the environment {. Fusion of two roots at the point of contact may also result in the formation of partial root grafts that show an incomplete unification of the root vascular tissue
Natural grafts among tree roots occur in four different forms, i.e., intersections, longitudinal grafts, “web grafts”, and “bridge roots”Intersections occur between similar or dissimilar sized roots that cross at angles approaching the perpendicular. Fusion of roots lying parallel and continuous to one another results in the formation of longitudinal grafts. The latter type of graft may have regions of vascular contact varying up to a meter or more. Elms grown in heavy soil produce a fine root mass {DA MASSA DAS PALAVRAS CULTURAIS }. Due to confinement of the roots in this soil type, duckfoot-like anastomoses of roots can be formed (“web grafts”). Confined root systems providing the opportunity to form “web grafts” also occur where there is a high water table or where trees grow in shallow soil overlying hard clay, bedrock or hardpan. “Bridge roots” typically connect two roots, but do not extend beyond either root. The two roots may originate from the same tree, or from different trees.
Natural grafting has been recorded in a number of species of woody plants—stem grafts in beech, holly, lime, oak, Scots pine, willow, yew (Dallimore, 1917), elm (Caldwell, 1927), Hedera helix (Millner, 1932), Alnus oregana (Rigg and Harrar, 1931), Coccolobis laurifolia, Eugenia buxifolia, Quercus virginiana and Taxodium ascendens (Small, 1932); root grafts in Acer saccharinum, Betula lutea, Pinus strobus, Thuja occidentalis, Tilia americana, Ulmus americana (La Rue, 1934), Pinus radiata(Adams, 1940) and Pseudotsuga taxifolia (Rigg and Harrar, 1931).
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