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We give a short proof that for every apex-forest X on at least two vertices, graphs excluding X as a minor have layered pathwidth at most 2|V (X) |-3. This improves upon a result by Dujmovi\'c, Eppstein, Joret, Morin, and Wood (SIDMA, 2020). Our main tool is a structural result about graphs excluding a forest as a rooted minor, which is of independent interest. We develop similar tools for treedepth and treewidth. We discuss implications for Erdos-P\'osa properties of rooted models of minors in graphs.
Hodor et al. (Fri,) studied this question.