Glossary term
What is Buttress roots?
Short answer
Buttress roots are wide, thick roots at the base of a trunk that help hold a tree upright.
Buttress roots, explained for tree service owners
Buttress roots are large roots that flare out from the base of the trunk and spread above or just under the soil. They add strength and help a tree stand up in wind. Some species, such as bald cypress and sweetgum, show strong buttresses on older trees. For a tree service owner, they matter in two ways. First, they make stump grinding take longer, since the roots can be wide and heavy. Second, they are part of how you tell if a tree is sound. Cut or damaged buttress roots, such as from trenching or heavy machines, can make a big tree unstable, so look at them before work begins and tell the owner what you see.
Related terms
- Stump grinding
Stump grinding is a service that uses a machine to grind a tree stump below ground level, leaving wood chips and a flat area that can be…
- Cambium
Cambium is the thin layer of living cells just under the bark that makes new wood inward and new bark outward each year.
- Canopy
Canopy is the layer of branches and leaves formed by the crowns of a tree or of many trees together.
- Conifer
A conifer is a tree that makes seeds in cones and usually has needles or scale-like leaves.
- Crown
Crown is the upper part of a tree made of branches, twigs and leaves, growing from the trunk.
- Evergreen tree
An evergreen tree is a tree that keeps green leaves or needles all year and replaces them gradually.
- Excurrent form
Excurrent form is a tree shape with one strong central trunk and side branches, like a pine or spruce.
- Girdling root
A girdling root is a root that circles the trunk or another root and slowly squeezes it.
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