Evolve with environment Plant adaptations Evolve with environment

Plant adaptations Flowering plants grow in a variety if places, in ponds, mountaintop, salt water…. Angiosperms can survive in these areas because through natural selection the basic designs of their roots, stems, and leaves have evolved to fulfill the particular needs of each location.

Plant adaptations – Desert plants Two family of desert plants: Cactuses (family Cactaceae) Crown-of-thorns family (family Euphorbiaceae)

Plant adaptations – Desert plants Root system that spread out for long distance just under the soil root or one that reaches deep down into the soil. Leaves have been transformed to minimize the water loss of the plants (maximum in leaves). In cactus➡spines Euphorbias ➡ very small or falls during dry seasons Stem adapted to store water. Seeds, dormancy can last for years (activates with rain) Life cycle shorter and faster can complete theirs in a matter of week or days.

Plant adaptations – life in water Like water lilies Adaptations: Roots and stem grow in water with almost no oxygen ➡they have large open spaces in the long petioles that reach from their leaves down to the roots at the bottom, and are filled with air. Mangrove trees have developed specializes air root

Plant adaptations – salt tolerant Like mangrove trees too! They live in salt water. When the water enters by osmosis it means that salt enters too. Normally will burn the root hairs off most plants. Adaptations: Leaves with special cells that actively pump salt out. (gets washed out by rain)

Plant adaptations plants that eat animals Some lives in very wet places where there is little or no nitrogen present in the watery soil ➡ need to get their nutrients somewhere else.. Adaptation: Specialized leaves that trap and digest insects Eg: Venus’s flytrap, but several other exist too https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j8IFHaHYFY