Buttress roots descibes a large root sytem that allows shallow rooted trees to stay upright by butressing the tree on all sides by roots that are exposed above the ground. Deep seeded roots usually supply a tree with more nutrients but in the Amazon rainforest, the abundance of trees consume most of the nutrients leaving the soil relatively poor. Large trees with a butress root system are able to collect nutrients from above ground to help sustain them allowing them to compete for nutrients and minerals within the forest.
  

Related pages   More Amazonian plants   More Pictures of plants   Pictures of the Amazon Basin   Pictures of the Amazon River   Pictures of Amazonas settlements

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