I have been doing some gardening recently and I suddenly realised that all plants have superficially identical non-woody roots of the same size from gigantic trees to small fruiting plants and vegetables. They are all white, no more than 1 mm across, long and flexible with no distinguishing marks. Only when the root start to become woody do they become different in appearance.

Leaves are very diverse even when they have just started to grow, i.e. before they have reached their full size. I can recognise many different plants from their smallest leaves alone but I wouldn't be able to differentiate plants by looking at their roots. So why aren't roots anywhere near as diverse as leaves?

I have been doing some gardening recently and I suddenly realised that all plants have superficially identical non-woody roots of the same size from gigantic trees to small fruiting plants and vegetables. They are all white, no more than 1 mm across, long and flexible with no distinguishing marks. Only when the root start to become woody do they become different in appearance.

Leaves are very diverse even when they have just started to grow, i.e. before they have reached their full size. I can recognise many different plants from their smallest leaves alone but I wouldn't be able to differentiate plants by looking at their roots. So why aren't roots anywhere near as diverse as leaves?