root cap
A protective covering over a root's growing tip that helps it move through soil.
Root cap of a young maize root (Zea mays)
All languages
- English
- root cap
- Norwegian
- rothette
- Japanese
- 根冠 — こんかん — konkan
- Korean
- 뿌리골무 — ppurigolmu
- Spanish
- cofia radicular
- French
- coiffe racinaire
- German
- Wurzelhaube
Illustrations are AI-generated and translations are undergoing language review.
Reference sources
- University of Minnesota Open Textbook — the root cap is a thimble-shaped protective structure whose outer cells are continuously worn away
- Iowa State University Extension — the root cap protects the apical meristem and sloughs old tissues as the root moves through soil
- University of Wisconsin Botany — root-cap cells protect the apical meristem and are eventually sloughed off