119 Putting It Together: Plant Structure and Function
think about It
Let’s think back to the beginning of the module: we mentioned that many plants have evolved to thrive in conditions that limit their access to light, nutrients, and oxygen. Can you think of any adaptations that would help plants in these situations?
Before you move on to the examples of adaptations, take some time to record your thoughts here:
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In tropical rainforests, light is often scarce, since many trees and plants grow close together and block much of the sunlight from reaching the forest floor. Many tropical plant species have exceptionally broad leaves to maximize the capture of sunlight. Other species are epiphytes: plants that grow on other plants that serve as a physical support. Such plants are able to grow high up in the canopy atop the branches of other trees, where sunlight is more plentiful. Epiphytes live on rain and minerals collected in the branches and leaves of the supporting plant. Bromeliads (members of the pineapple family), ferns, and orchids are examples of tropical epiphytes (Figure 1). Many epiphytes have specialized tissues that enable them to efficiently capture and store water.
Some plants have special adaptations that help them to survive in nutrient-poor environments. Carnivorous plants, such as the Venus flytrap and the pitcher plant (Figure 2), grow in bogs where the soil is low in nitrogen. In these plants, leaves are modified to capture insects. The insect-capturing leaves may have evolved to provide these plants with a supplementary source of much-needed nitrogen.
Watch Venus Flytraps: Jaws of Death, an extraordinary BBC close-up of the Venus flytrap in action.
Many swamp plants have adaptations that enable them to thrive in wet areas, where their roots grow submerged underwater. In these aquatic areas, the soil is unstable and little oxygen is available to reach the roots. Trees such as mangroves (Rhizophora sp.) growing in coastal waters produce aboveground roots that help support the tree (Figure 3). Some species of mangroves, as well as cypress trees, have pneumatophores: upward-growing roots containing pores and pockets of tissue specialized for gas exchange. Wild rice is an aquatic plant with large air spaces in the root cortex. The air-filled tissue—called aerenchyma—provides a path for oxygen to diffuse down to the root tips, which are embedded in oxygen-poor bottom sediments.