Specialised Roots: Mycorrhizae
Mycorrhizal roots can improve the nutrition of a plant in several ways.
The simplest is through an increase in surface area that benefits both nutrient and water uptake (much as root hairs do).
More importantly, mycorrhizae may also be capable of utilizing (and transferring to the host root) nutrient sources
that are normally unavailable to the plant.
A wide range of fungi across many different taxonomic groups form mycorrhizal associations with roots and several types of mycorrhizal roots are recognised.
A mycorrhiza on a Eucalyptus regnans root. The root itself is obscured by a proliferation of hyphae radiating out into the surrounding soil.