In what different ways are leaves designed to get rid of excess water?

Question

How do leaves get rid of excess water?

Answer 1

The situation is not that leaves get rid of EXCESS water, but rather leaves pass water in the process of motabalism. Leaves are little factories. They receive raw goods with one purpose that is to produce sugar that the plant needs to sustain life and reproduce. One of the raw materials is water.

In the process of producing sugar for export out of the leaf/factory, the leaf must also meet the minimum production quota of sugar to operate. If it doesn't meet the minimum threshold to stay alive -- it shuts down. And if it can't produce enough to just stay alive, of course it dies.

Water is part of the sugar making process and water is also a coolant. Leaves get hot in a day's work. One method used to keep cool is to vent, pass, exhale water in the form of water vapor. One of the functions of the stomata (small openings in leaf surfaces) is to pass water vapor along with oxygen and carbon dioxide. So leaves breath with out muscels to drive the breathing process.

Leaves do exude water and I am not sure that this water is excess or not. The process is known as leaf margin gutation (LMG) and not to be confused with dew. LMG occures most often in the earily morning hours, which are the day's most cool tempretures just before sun-up. At the time, leaf internal water pressure is such that leaf margin cells exude fluid water. This water collects on the margin as dropletts not heavy enough to dislodge and fall. As morning progresses with sunlight becoming stronger, photothensis starting up, air tempreture increassing, ambient humidity beginning to decrease; some of that LMG fluid drops to the ground, some evaporates, and some goes back into the leaf from whence it came.

You might see LMG in some house plants like Pothos; a little drop of water at the very tip of a leaf(s) in the morning. You wonder, how did that get there?

I've seen spectacular sight inside three acre greenhouses of tomato production. Walking into the greenhouse with the sun's earily morning rays just breaking and washing three acres of shoulder high plants. The entire scene is like looking at millions of diamonds sparkling along the margins of thousands of leaves. Awsome!

Answer 2

You mean in the form of rain landing on it?

1) Having a waxy surface to repel the water and make it run off.
2) Having pointy ends to promote drop formation and shedding the water.

Answer 3

If the leaves r on a tree or plant they curl up to collect water then they absorb it.

Answer 4

based on your previous question, i could say you're engaged on a homework task. through doing it your self, you will certainly study it. you in all probability have a textbook genuine there in front of you.

Answer 5

Closing and opening of stomata
wilting of leaf

Answer 6

sweating

Answer 7

find it here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaf