Question

Monocot root differs from dicot root in having
A. Open vascular bundles
B. Scattered vascular bundles
C. Well developed pith
D. Radially arranged vascular bundles

Answer 1

Hint: The plants which bear seeds having only one cotyledon are known as monocots whereas those having two cotyledons in their seeds are known as dicots.

Complete answer
Monocot roots differ from dicot roots in having a well-developed pith. The major differences between the monocot and dicot roots are as follows:

Feature	Dicot root	Monocot root
Cortex	It is comparatively narrower.	It is very wide.
Cork	It is conspicuous and replaces the epiblema, cortex, and some part of endodermis. It can easily be seen on older roots.	Cork is absent. Epiblema peels off leaving behind cortex and endodermis. The older roots have a special covering known as exodermis.
Endodermis	It is relatively thinner with thick and prominent Casparian stripes.	The endodermal cells are highly thickened and possess Casparian strips at younger stages only.
Passage cells	They are absent.	They are present
Pericycle	It leads to formation of lateral roots along with cork cambium and vascular cambium.	It only forms lateral roots and not cambium.
Vascular bundles	They possess 2-5 bundles of xylem and phloem.	They possess eight or more than eight vascular bundles. The xylem vessels are round to oval in shape.
Secondary growth	It is present and takes place with the help of cork cambium and vascular cambium.	It is completely absent.
Pith	It is either completely absent or very small.	They have a well-developed pith in the center.

So, the correct answer is ‘Well developed pith'.

Note:
Pith or the medulla is the centremost region in a monocot root. It is made up of soft and spongy parenchymatous cells. It consists of round or angular cells with intercellular spaces between them. It is meant for the storage and transport of nutrients to the plants. It is present in the stem as well. It is rich in starch and serves as food, for example, a sago palm tree. The pith wood also helps in the cleaning of watch parts.

DICOT

MONOCOT