Question

How do plants adapt to check excessive transpiration?

Answer 1

Adaptations to check excessive transpiration in plants:

1. Transpiration is the process in which the water moves round through a plant and gets evaporated from aerial parts like leaves, stems, and flowers.
2. Several adaptations are found in plants to prevent excessive transpiration.These are:

1. Sunken stomata:

1. Sunken stomata are hidden stomata present in the inner leaf layers.
2. It prevents the vaporization of water in dry conditions and reserves it within plant bodies.

2. Modification of leaves into spines:

1. In dessert areas, the leaves of xerophytic plants are modified to extremely small-sized spines.
2. It reduces the surface area from which water can not be evaporated and thus minimizes water loss.

3. Presence of thick cuticle:

1. In xerophytes, a thick cuticle covers the upper surface of the leaves so that water can not get evaporated easily.
2. Thus the transpiration rate gets reduced.