Root prone

Root prone [ Horticulture ]	Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names
Synonyms: Susceptible to root rot, Sensitive to root rot

Of a plant which is sensitive to root rot infection.

Root prone plants are plants that are sensitive to root rot infection due to bacterial or fungal pathogens. The problem is particularly serious if the rhizosphere is kept too wet, especially in cold weather. The Root-sensitivity varies in different species and is particularly serious in drought lovers plants, such as many cacti and succulent, especially during the rainy season, in waterlogged substrates and in poor draining terrain where the excess of water removes much of the oxygen and creates a favourable condition for root rot fungal pathogens such as Phytophthora, Phytium and bacterial infections
Root prone plants needs very good drainage and are sometimes grafted to eliminate this problem. Another option for protecting root sensitive species grown in areas where winter temperatures are low is the concept of ‘minimum heat’. In this system some type of heat is employed to keep the soil temperature at a minimum temperature.

See also: Rot prone

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Holdfast roots [ Botany ]
Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names

Some species of climbing plants develop holdfast roots which help to support the vines on trees, walls, and rocks. By forcing their way into minute pores and crevices, they hold the plant firmly in place.

Climbing plants, like the poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata), and trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans), develop holdfast roots which help to support the vines on trees, walls, and rocks. By forcing their way into minute pores and crevices, they hold the plant firmly in place. Usually the Holdfast roots die at the end of the first season, but in some species they are perennial. In the tropics some of the large climbing plants have hold-fast roots by which they attach themselves, and long, cord-like roots that extend downward through the air and may lengthen and branch for several years until they strike the soil and become absorbent roots.

Major references and further lectures:
1) E. N. Transeau “General Botany” Discovery Publishing House, 1994