Have you ever wondered why some of the plants can live in the waterless region like the desert? Have you ever noticed that the desert plants have similar look but different to the native plants of the area? The answers to both questions lie in the nature of desert plants. When you see the typical desert plants you will see that they have spiky leaves and look like the leaves are swollen. The colors of the leaves are almost never bright green like the color of other plants. They may look a little bit strange for those who are not accustomed to the look, however, the look is how they can adapt to the situation. The desert stores so many challenges and to be able to survive, they need those criteria.
The desert plants can survive the because of their three strategies; they are succulent, they can tolerate dryness and they can avoid the dryness. Succulent plants are the plants that have the ability to store water inside their roots, stems and also leave. That is why the dessert plants have the swollen look. They have water inside them. Cactus is one of the succulent plants. Other examples include the agave aloe, euphorbia and also elephant trees.
These kinds of plants are able to absorb lots of water in such a short time and then use the water inside their storage over a period of time. During the desert rains which are often brief, they take as much water as possible before the soil becomes dry again from the intense sunlight. This unique ability is not possessed by other types of plants because most of the other plants will either die because they do not have enough water and also de because they have too much water.
These plants are brought tolerance because it has the ability to withstand the condition of dryness without dying. During the dry periods, they will shed leaves to reduce the water loose from transpiration. The roots of the type of plants are usually more extensive compared to the ones that are not. These are to exploit the soil as much as possible in search of water. They are able to avoid the dryness and when they feel that they will no longer able to survive, then most of them will spend their last energy reserve to produce seeds. This way, a new plant will grow to replace the original ones.
