Curiosities of the Plant World Life on earth in all forms has its curiosities and likewise the kingdom of plants has its own. We have trees which are as tall as a multi storeyed building and in contrast plant life which can be seen only be seen through a microscope. Though all plants require sunlight, we even have the various types of fungi which just grow overnight and can survive without...

Fungi Fungi also belong to the family of plants except that they do not have the green pigment called Chlorophyll nor do their cell walls have cellulose. They have thin thread like fungal fibres called Mycelium which are hidden under the surface where they are growing. Fungi do not reproduce with the help of seeds, they use spores. Since fungi cannot rely upon sunlight, because of the lack of chlorophyll, to...

Creepers and Vines We often find plants growing along walls, fences or around tree trunks, these are called creepers and vines. These plants climb and grow by using hooks, tendrils or suckers to hold on to a surface and grow upwards or by coiling around other plants and trees. Climbing plants save the energy. spent by other plants in growing stems, for growing faster by using the stems of other plants...

Marsh Plants Salt water is generally harmful for plants since it kills them, yet we have plants which survive in the salty water of the marshes. Marshes are formed out of the deposits along the river banks, as such this soil has a high salt content. Salt in the soil draws water out of the plants thus causing them to die for lack of nutrients. Marsh plants are able to counter...

Alpine Plants Plants of this type arc found in the high mountains where they have to survive in extremely cold temperatures, freezing winds and soils which are largely rocky and devoid of water. The survival instincts in plants help them through this situation by giving them different shapes and sizes which help them in thriving. The ability to generate their own warmth is most important for plants at these altitudes. As...

Desert Plants Plants need water to survive but there are places where water is scanty, like in the deserts, yet plants are able to survive there since they use various means to do so. Most desert plants store water in their sterns and since most of them don’t have leaves, they do not lose water because of transpiration. However some species of desert plants do have leaves but since these leaves...

Flowering Plants The plant family is a very large one and of the 3,55,000 different species of plants known to man, over 2,10,000 are of the flowering type. Flowering plants have better methods of forming and dispersing their seeds, which explains why they are larger in number. Flowering plants differ from others not only because of their flowers but also because they have a different kind of reproductive organs located in...

Life in the Gardens While tending to the plants in our garden or while digging in the flower beds, we see earthworms or many other insects hidden in the soil. If we dig into a heap of compost, we often find small insects or centipedes creeping out of it. Our gardens provide home to a large species of animals and insects, like moles, slugs, snails, earthworms, centipedes, spiders etc. These small...