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to their corresponding wide-angle shot. A fully-zoomed image can represent an area
of the soil a mere three millimeters wide and two millimeters tall!
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Site: UCSC Arboretum
P. torreyana trees are endemic to northern San Diego county's coastal areas. Torrey pines are commonly found on sandy soils on coastal bluffs and on dry slopes below 500ft. Cultivated plants (like this one) tend to be taller and more symmetrical than individuals found in natural stands. |
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There's something edible down here! White roots with lateral branches grow among various stained areas suggesting microbial activity. |
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Zoom in on bacterial clumps in the foreground. |
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Zoom in on lateral root branch...notice the fine root hairs. |
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Fine roots. Notice the sandy texture of the soil. |
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Zoom in on fine roots from above...notice long, wispy web of structures radiating from roots at the right of the screen. These could be root hairs or thick "cables" of fungal hyphae. |
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Former roots? Roots often die when they have exhausted the nutrients in the "halo" of soil around the root. Decomposers quickly consume the dead tissue. |
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Advanced root hair development. |
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Half zoom on above image. |
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This network of fine roots indicates an area that is being actively "mined" for nutrients. |
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Bright white fleshy root tip. |
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Zoom in on above root tip. The tip of a growing root is like a drill bit, with a cap of mucilage and root cells to protect the meristematic tissue from damage. |
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Mystery shot! Is this an almost-decomposed root? |
