The smaller or fewer leaves a plant has, the less water is lost during transpiration since it has less surface area open to the sun and wind. For desert plants with small leaves or none at all, the twigs and stems help to carry out photosynthesis.

Desert plants have adapted their roots, stems, and leaves to store more water and decrease its loss. The ability to stay hydrated helps desert plants grow healthy in extremely hot or cold environments.

How plants adapt to arid conditions

• thick, waxy skin to reduce loss of water and to reflect heat.
• large, fleshy stems to store water.
• thorns and thin, spiky or glossy leaves to reduce water loss.
• spikes protect cacti from animals wishing to use stored water.
• deep roots to tap groundwater.

All cacti are succulents, as are such non-cactus desert dwellers as agave, aloe, elephant trees, and many euphorbias. Several other adaptations are essential for the water storing habit to be effective. A succulent must be able to absorb large quantities of water in short periods.

Desert plants can be classified into three main categories: Cacti and Succulents, Wildflowers, and Trees, Shrubs, and Grasses.

Most of the animals who live in the desert are insects, scorpions, reptiles and spiders….Plants that grow in deserts include:

• barrel cactus.
• camel thorn tree.
• elephant tree.
• Joshua tree.
• sagebrush.
• organ pipe cactus.
• palm tree.
• prickly pear cactus.

Types of plants that live in the desert:

• Prickly Pear Cacti.
• Tumbleweed.
• Saguaro Cactus.
• Mexican Poppies.
• Weathered Trees.
• Wildflowers.
• Orange Trees.
• Ficus.

When the rains do come, the water rushes over rocky areas of desert without soaking in. There are some plants, however, that have adapted to the almost waterless conditions of the desert. These plants are called xerophytes. Xerophytes tend to have small, waxy leaves, which help the plant to retain water.

Desert plants thrive in hot, arid environments where they can survive with minimal rainfall. Cacti are the most common desert plants; however, succulents, desert trees, grasses, and types of small shrubs and flowering bushes all grow well in deserts.

Succulent plants such as cacti, aloes, and agaves, beat the dry heat by storing plenty of water in their roots, stems, or leaves. In the desert, water evaporates rapidly, never sinking deep into the soil. Thus, most succulents have extensive, but shallow root systems.

in desert area there is shortage of water to store water in there stem they thick stems.

Most desert plants are drought- or salt-tolerant. Some store water in their leaves, roots, and stems. Other desert plants have long tap roots that penetrate the water table, anchor the soil, and control erosion.

Complete answer: But the plants found in deserts perform photosynthesis in the night time to produce carbon dioxide. It is simply due to the climate of deserts. The desert plants do not open stomata during the night time to absorb carbon dioxide where the temperature is too low during night time to prevent water loss.

The desert is dry most of the year, with rainy seasons in summer and winter. Yet even when the rains come, the desert doesn’t get much water. So one way these plants have adapted is to grow very deep roots. Those roots tap into sources of ground water far below the soil’s surface.

The plants grow deep roots to gather water that is far down under the surface of the earth. At such a deep level, the water evaporates from the desert heat much slower than it does closer to the surface.

For example, desert plants have to prevent themselves from being eaten by animals. They often develop a bad taste, a strong odor, a spine, or waxy leaves to keep themselves off their predator’s menu.

Plants have long roots in the desert region because they go deep into the soil in search of water.

The adaptations of desert plants to prevent water loss are small, modified leaves, a thick waxy cuticle, water storage capability, and dormancy during…

Function. The predominant function of thorns, spines, and prickles is deterring herbivory in a mechanical form. In some cases, spines have been shown to shade or insulate the plants that grow them, thereby protecting them from extreme temperatures.

Puncture wounds from the thorns happen easily as anyone who has tried to prune these shrubs will attest. Although the thorns are not considered toxic, the skin around the puncture wound can become red, swollen, painful, and itchy. These symptoms are uncomfortable but not dangerous.

castor oil plant

Treatment. Currently, the only cure for plant-thorn synovitis is the removal of the thorn through surgery known as synovectomy. In this surgery, the connective tissue of the joint is removed.

Leave a thorn or splinter of wood in your body for a few months, and it’s likely to disintegrate and further stimulate your body’s immune response. And any infection left untreated can spread and cause septicaemia or blood poisoning.