In our experiment, the link between the production
of hypocotyl roots in Caisin and its greater tolerance of
waterlogging is a correlative one rather than causal.In the field,
where a period of high rainfall may be followed by a dry period,
the production of hypocotyl roots may allow the plant to
tolerate waterlogging, but then the root system of the plant is
shallow, and so adaptation to drought would require the new
roots to grow deeper into the drained soil. Thus, a period of
excess water may make the plants more susceptible to a
following dry period, however, this would apply to any situation
where waterlogging severely reduced the function of the root
system.