Identify the correct statement from below.

The correct option is "Velamen roots are living".

Let us understand the structural and functional characteristics of velamen roots step-by-step to see why this option is correct and why the other choices are incorrect:

1. What are Velamen Roots?
Velamen roots (also known as epiphytic roots) are specialized aerial roots found in epiphytic plants, such as certain species of orchids (e.g., Vanda). Since epiphytes grow on other plants (like tree branches) rather than in the soil, they require a specialized mechanism to absorb moisture and nutrients directly from the atmosphere.

2. Structure and Composition (Living vs. Dead tissues)
Velamen roots consist of multiple tissue layers:
- The outermost layer is the velamen, which is a multi-layered tissue composed of dead, hollow cells. The velamen acts like a sponge, absorbing water from rain, dew, or atmospheric humidity.
- However, beneath this dead outer velamen layer lies the main body of the root, which includes the cortex, endodermis, and vascular bundle. These internal tissues are made of active, living cells. Since the root as a functional, biological organ contains living cortical and vascular cells, the root itself is classified as a living structure.

3. Why the other options are incorrect:
- "Velamen roots attach to the soil": Incorrect. Velamen roots are aerial roots that hang freely in the air or cling to the bark of host trees. They do not penetrate or attach to the soil.
- "In Cuscuta, velamen roots are present": Incorrect. Cuscuta (dodder) is a parasitic plant that possesses specialized sucking roots called haustoria to draw nutrients from the host plant, not velamen roots.
- "Velamen roots are tap roots": Incorrect. Velamen roots are adventitious roots, as they develop from the stem of the epiphyte rather than the radicle of the embryo (which forms tap root systems).