aerial root

American  

noun

1. Botany. a root growing from a position above ground or water, such as one growing from the stem of an orchid.

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aerial root Scientific  

/ âr′ē-əl /

1. A root that develops from a location on a plant above the surface of the earth or water, as from a stem. For example, some orchids have aerial roots that grow from their stems and absorb water directly from the air.

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Example Sentences

Fourth in the primary was tough-talking Congressman Jimmy Morrison, another old aerial root off Louisiana's once-flourishing political banyan tree.

From Time Magazine Archive

An aerial root that formed a sort of ladder by which one climbed the mountain steeps; literally a shaking sling.

From Unwritten Literature of Hawaii The Sacred Songs of the Hula by Emerson, Nathaniel Bright