Aerial roots are roots growing above the ground. They are often adventitious, i.e. formed from nonroot tissue. They are found in diverse plant species, including epiphytes such as orchids (Orchidaceae), tropical coastal swamp trees such as mangroves, banyan figs (Ficus subg. Urostigma), the warm-temperate rainforest rata (Metrosideros robusta), and pōhutukawa trees of New Zealand (Metrosideros excelsa). Vines such as common ivy (Hedera helix) and poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) also have aerial roots.

This plant organ that is found in so many diverse plant-families has different specializations that suit the plant-habitat. In general growth-form, they can be technically classed as negatively gravitropic (grows up and away from the ground) or positively gravitropic (grows down toward the ground).

Banyan trees are an example of a strangler fig that begins life as an epiphyte in the crown of another tree. Their roots grow down and around the stem of the host, their growth accelerating once the ground has been reached. Over time, the roots coalesce to form a pseudotrunk, which may give the appearance that it is strangling the host.

Another strangler that begins life as an epiphyte is the Moreton Bay fig (Ficus macrophylla) of tropical and subtropical eastern Australia, which has powerfully descending aerial roots. In the subtropical to warm-temperate rainforests of northern New Zealand, Metrosideros robusta, the rata tree, sends aerial roots down several sides of the trunk of the host. From these descending roots, horizontal roots grow out to girdle the trunk and fuse with the descending roots. In some cases, the "strangler" outlives the host tree, leaving as its only trace a hollow core in the massive pseudotrunk of the rata.

These specialized aerial roots enable plants to breathe air in habitats with waterlogged soil. The roots may grow downward from the stem or upward from typical roots. Some botanists classify them as aerating roots rather than aerial roots if they emerge from the soil. The surface of these roots is covered with porous lenticels, which lead to air-filled spongy tissue called aerenchyma. This tissue facilitates the diffusion of gases throughout the plant, as oxygen diffusion coefficient in air is four orders of magnitude greater than in water.

Pneumatophores differentiate the black mangrove and grey mangrove from other mangrove species. Fishers in some areas of Southeast Asia make corks for fishing nets by shaping the pneumatophores of mangrove apples (Sonneratia caseolaris) into small floats.

Members of the subfamily Taxodioideae produce woody above-ground structures, known as cypress knees, that project upward from their horizontal roots. One hypothesis suggests that these structures function as pneumatophores, facilitating gas exchange in waterlogged soils. However, modern research has largely discredited this idea, as the knees lack aerenchyma and gas exchange through them is not significant. Their true functions remain unclear, with alternative theories proposing roles such as nutrient acquisition or storage, structural support, or erosion prevention.

These roots are found in parasitic plants, where aerial roots become cemented to the host plant via a sticky attachment disc before intruding into the tissues of the host. Mistletoe is an example of this.