Roots

Growing on a slope, erosion sometimes removes the soil covering, exposing the thick, finger-like roots of Aloidendron dichotomum. The roots are numerous and succulent. Several of those in picture are broken off, probably caused by factors that would be absent or of less impact had they still been covered.

The roots emerge from the stem-base and spread fairly shallowly around and below it, angled down in many directions for anchoring the tree in the ground. These roots are not really aggressive but the stem-base widens strongly, becoming a cone of sometimes huge proportions, the tip of which is to be imagined up in the trunk.

Quiver trees are monocot plants that have adventitious roots, lacking a tap root. Their roots have pith in the centre. No secondary thickening growth occurs as in dicots causing old plants to be different in their roots.

Monocots (grasses, grains, aloes, orchids and many more), are a separate group of plants characterised by only one cotyledon forming in each seed, as opposed to the two found in dicot seeds. Stem and leaf anatomy of the two plant types differ characteristically, aiding the recognition of the two groups.