roothold

[ root-hohld, root- ]

noun

1. attachment of a plant to soil by means of its roots; support of a plant through the growing and spreading of its roots.

Example Sentences

She’ll also be tracking whether invasive plants are able to gain a roothold and how environmental factors such as water and sun exposure influence the vegetation community.

From Science Magazine

Moisture left in the soils as the reservoir drained appears to have aided the restoration, creating a brief window for water-loving plants to get a roothold.

From Science Magazine

And once they gain a roothold outside Africa, fire often follows.

From Science Magazine

Ascending redwoods in northwestern California, he found trunks wrapped in blankets of fuzzy, grass-green moss; twigs covered by whimsical chartreuse lichen wisps; and in places where they could eke out a precarious roothold, a variety of saplings and bushes — currant, huckleberry, hemlock and more — some of which had epiphytic communities of their own.

From New York Times

Flecks of green suggested plants were finding a roothold.

From Scientific American