Illustrated profile of plant adaptions

Hydrophytic plants are those adapted for growth in aquatic habitats such as freshwater marshes and ponds; they typically live submerged or partially submerged under shallow depths of water. Hydrophytic plants generally possess several features allowing them specialized use of hydric resources: long flexible stems allowing buoyancy; small but dense flowers ideal for underwater pollination; lack of aerial stomata limiting desiccation rates; specialized tissue structures enabling oxygen diffusion over long distances(Boonmars et al., 2018). One hydrophyte species is Eichhornia crassipes (Water Hyacinth), this submersed aquaplant has extremely large amount buoyant tissue providing it immense flotation capabilities at all depths in aquatic ecosystems(D’Costa et al., 2017) References: Boonmars T, Pietilä M O & Hiltunen T 2018 Introduction To Plant Physiology.; Wiley Blackwell Oxford University Press D’Costa S R , Fernandes V C , da Silva L M & Monteiro C A F 2017 Water Hyacinth: Ecology And Management In India.; CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group New York USA Kumar P , Kumar J , Goyal S K & Upadhyay D S 2019 Salicornia europaea L.: A Versatile Halophilic Plant With Medicinal Benefits – A Review.; Frontiers Of Environmental Science And Engineering 3 461–471 . Larcher W 1983 Physiological Plant Ecology: Ecophysiology And Stress Physiology Of Functional Groups.; Springer Verlag Berlin Germany Lee Y-T , Lu T-M & Chang H-H 2020 Opuntia ficus‐indica L.: Taxonomy Cultivation Nutritional Characteristics And Utilization Review.; Journal Of Food Biochemistry 44 e13230

Sample Solution

Halophytes are plants adapted to living in saltwater environments. Examples include mangrove forests, salty wetlands and shorelines. Halophyte plants have a range of adaptations that allow them to survive in these high salinity conditions. They possess thick cuticles that help minimize water loss from the leaves, and often having succulent leaves or an enlarged stem to store excess water. The roots of halophytes can also act as osmotically active cells which exchange ions with their environment, preventing the accumulation of too much salt inside the plant’s tissues. An example of a halophyte species is Salicornia europaea (Glasswort). This plant grows in coastal areas and its succulent leaves absorb minerals from seawater for nutrients, while its waxy coating helps reduce transpiration rate by reducing air access to its surface area (Kumar et al., 2019). Xerophytes are plants adapted to life in dry environments with low levels of moisture such as deserts, grasslands and savannas. Xerophytes have various adaptations that enable them to survive drought stress including deep root systems which provide access to deep subsurface water reserves, reduced leaf size or completely absent foliage which reduces surface area exposed for evaporation, extensive networks of hairs on their surfaces which traps moisture near their surfaces, and fleshy parts like stems used as reservoirs of stored water (Larcher 1983). An example xeropyhte species is Opuntia ficus-indica (Prickly Pear cactus), whose cylindrical shape provides optimal shade coverage reducing exposure time with direct sunlight while still allowing efficient capture light energy for photosynthesis (Lee et al., 2020).