Belowground slice of life

Illustrations by F. Curtis Lubbe at the Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences.

The belowground compartment isn’t only fascinating, it is also inspiring and sometimes relatable. Here is a small series of illustrations inspired by the belowground storage organs of plants featuring a sleepy taproot, hungry stem tuber, grumpy bulb, multiplying rhizome, and grumpy rhizome.

Expressive belowground storage organs in their natural habitat.

A depiction of stress avoidance by a bulb utilizing greater soil depth.

Plant competition by a rhizome using multiplication and conversation.

Delayed release from dormancy by a taproot (don’t let the green leaves fool you).

Storage allocation by a stem tuber.

Even rhizomes hate paperwork.

Among illustrations previously featured at the Functional Ecologists blog here.