a. [T]he reins of their (Moors) horses were as fire, their faces black as pitch, their eyes shone like burning candles, their horses were swift as leopards and the riders fiercer than a wolf in a sheepfold at night . . .
Appearance. A taproot has a main root, similar in appearance to a carrot, which is also a taproot. In most cases, smaller, auxiliary roots grow laterally all along the main taproot. A fibrous root system is a mass of small roots, with an appearance of a mass of fibers. It can resemble a bird's nest or a ball of yarn. The roots are typically only a few inches long and branch frequently, similar to the canopy of a tree.
FIBROUS ROOTS. The roots shown in the artsy picture at the right, from a weed in my garden, the Three-seeded Mercury, Acalypha rhomboidea, are fibrous roots. On our Roots Page we tell of a rye grass plant which had 380 miles of branching and rebranching roots, and 14 billion root hairs. Those branching and rebranching roots were fibrous roots. Fibrous roots are probably the most common root type.