Resumo. The species Tabebuia roseoalba, present in the native flora of cerrado, exhibits vegetative propagation in the natural environment. The presence of underground systems that produce buds in woody tree species is related to survival under environmental disturbances. Thus, the aim of this work was to analyze and characterize anatomically the underground system producing shoot-buds in the Tabebuia roseoalba species. The material used in the investigation (plagiotropic roots) were cut into ten centimeters long segments, rinsed with water and planted in plastic pots with vermiculite. The segments were kept in a thermostatic chamber during 60 days. After, the material was hand sectioned and then stained with safranin and methylene blue for the microscopic examination. The results indicate that the underground system analyzed has a characteristic arrangement of roots with the protoxylem poles on the outer side (exarch) and the center of the structure is made up entirely of xylem. The characteristics observed in this work lead to propose that the buds are reparative in which their formation is linked to any environmental disturbance in the underground system.