Roots serve as anchor for a plant as well as the source of water and mineral uptake.  Many dicots have a taproot system where a single, large, deep-growing root is accompanied by less-prominent secondary roots.  In some plants, the taproot also functions as a food storage organ (e.g. carrots and radishes).  Some monocot and dicot plants have fibrous root systems where there is no one main root, but rather many thin roots of approximately the same size.  The stele at the center of most roots contains three main tissues: xylem, phloem, and pericycle.