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How are cactus adapted to survive in a desert?

Jitender Pal , 11 Years ago

Grade 9

7 Answers

Radhika Batra

Last Activity: 11 Years ago

A cactus is able to survive in the desert as it is adapted to the hot and humid conditions of the desert. To survive in a desert, the cactus has the following adaptations:

(i) It has long roots that go deep inside the soil for absorbing water.

(ii) Its leaves are present in the form of spines to prevent water loss through transpiration.

(iii) Its stem is covered with a thick waxy layer to retain water.

Saloni Rakholiya

Last Activity: 10 Years ago

special tissues
long deep roots to go and fetch long distance water
hard coating of waterproof material
reduction of water loss by thorns

Apurv

Last Activity: 6 Years ago

Cactus is able to survive in habitat of desert as it is adapted to hot conditions it has thick layer to survive and it has waxy layer to store water.It gas fibrous roots to collect water

saravanan

Last Activity: 6 Years ago

as they has a long roots.they can get water from the underground,which is stored already and have spines instead of leaves to adapt them in this extreme dry environment

Sayantan Garai

Last Activity: 6 Years ago

They adapt as they has muselase, pectin, long roots and cuticles. Hope you know the role of each. You can find also the role of them in internet.

saalib

Last Activity: 6 Years ago

A cactus is a plant that grows where the soil is dry and rocky—most usually in the desert. A cactus doesn’t have leaves like other plants do. A cactus has spines or thorns. The plural word for cactus is cacti. Plural means more than one. Almost all cacti are native to deserts and dry regions of South and North America. Due to their attractive morphology, cacti can be found throughout the world today.

Cacti live in a desert environment where rain is rare, and even if it does rain, due to the heat water will simply evaporate. To cope with this Cacti have adapted allowing them to survive in the extreme desert climate.

Cacti have a widespread root system (made up of fibrous roots) that can allow them to collect water from a large area.
Root hairs grow on fibrous roots collecting even the smallest droplets of water. After the ground dries the hairs will die meaning the cactus wouldn't have to use extra energy to maintain them.
Cacti also have spines (the prickly thorn like things) in which replace leaves. These spines minimise the surface area of the cactus reducing water loss.
The cacti’s stem is also thick and fleshy allowing it to store a lot of water. The stem also has a waxy waterproof kind of coating to help retain more water.

abinayaa

Last Activity: 6 Years ago

To survive in a desert, the cactus has the following adaptations: (i) It has long roots that go deep inside the soil for absorbing water. (ii) Its leaves are present in the form of spines to prevent water loss through transpiration. (iii) Its stem is covered with a thick waxy layer to retain water.