2006-10-18 04:48:22 · 4 answers · asked by hello 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Botany
To protect the plants from frost, a wax coating is developed by the plant and this helps the plant to survive in extreme cold conditions.
In the coastal areas, due to humid weather and hot sun, the water vaporises quickly. The leaf is the one which helps in vaporisation of water. To prevent excess water outage, the plants themselves develop the leaves in this way.
2006-10-18 05:04:23 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The thick, waxy cuticle is an evolved trait that is necessary for some plant survival in extreme conditions. This adaptive measure prevents a loss of water through respiration (during the day) during drought conditions or in areas where the temperatures are constantly high.
Leaflets, however, have no real "reason", if you can call the evolutionary morphology of a plant reasonable. Those plants, which have the characteristics of having leaves sub-divided into leaflets/leafletets may be more well adapted to coastal regions due to other physiological traits.
2006-10-19 06:05:29 · answer #2 · answered by SFA_deckhand 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There is no simple answer to this and the situation isn't as simple as you make out. Some coastal plants also have waxy coatings on leaves to protect them from the damaging effects of salt spray. Hills don't necessarily mean frost either, depends on whether you are in Singapore or Nova Scotia.
2006-10-20 04:35:48 · answer #3 · answered by myrtguy 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In dry, coastal climates, plants have fine leaves to help collect moisture from the air in the morning when it is misty.
2006-10-19 19:22:37 · answer #4 · answered by Wingaddict 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋