BIO120H1 Lecture 17: BIO120 LECTURE 17
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BIO120H1 Full Course Notes
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Desert has characteristic cacti, most plants have a grey filming on them. This tree has a reduction in leaf area to reduce the amount of heat the leafs pick up from the sun. Trunks are green because they have chloroplasts and the chloroplasts are doing photosynthesis. If you have too much leaf surface, you loose water thru those leaves. If you have tiny leaves, you can have photosynthesis in the trunk. It does make leaves but they are reduced. In dry seasons, plants can drop leaves entirely, making all of its photosyn coming from its bark. This tree has brown bark, along with microphylly that are shed in dry seasons. All stems are oriented in one direction, so they maximize photosynthesis. Shallow extended root system is an adaptation for harvesting water that occurs sesionally and briefly. Cact are good examples of plants that have adapted for brief but good amounts of water that they can suck up.
