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Plant adaptations
Habitat
How plants have adapted
Rainforest: Wet and hot, with
Adaptations include:
poor soil and light.
• Big leaves or spiralled leaves to capture as much light as
possible.
Plants: Swiss cheese plant,
• Many leaves have waxy coats and drip tips so excess water
rubber plant, birds nest fern,
runs off.
orchids.
• Plants climb or sit in the upper branches of trees to make
the most of available light. These have adaptations for
trapping water in alternative ways – through funnelled leaves
or aerial roots.
Habitat
How plants have adapted
Desert: Hot, arid or semiarid,
Adaptations include:
water is scarce.
• Reducing leaves to spines or to a few small leaves.
• Storing water in the swollen stems.
Plants: Cacti, Agave, aloe
• Only opening the breathing pores (stomata) at night.
yucca, stone plants
• Disguising themselves to avoid being eaten - such as
looking like living stones.
Habitat
How plants have adapted
Poor soils, low nutrition from
Adaptations include:
soil, e.g. peat bogs.
• Flypaper trap, where sticky hairs trap landing insects
Carnivorous plants: Venus
(sundew).
• Pitfall traps where insects fall into a long tube (sarracennia,
fly trap, sundew, Sarracenia,
pitcher plants).
pitcher plants.
• Trapping insects or, in a few cases, larger animals such as
frogs or small mammals with roots or leaves adapted as
traps.
• Steel trap that snaps shut (venus fly trap).
Habitat
How plants have adapted
Alpine: Cold, short summers,
Adaptations include:
exposed to strong winds and
• Tightly packed or small leaves.
intense light, drought when
• Fleshy, waxy leaves to store water or ones covered with
water freezes, minimal soil.
Plants: Alpine saxifrages,
white or grey hairs to reflect sun.
gentians, Sempervivum.
• Large root system to find available water.
Habitat
How plants have adapted
Mediterranean: Dry hot
Adaptations include:
summers.
• Small leathery leaves, packed with oils to help stop water
• Small size of plants, or hugging the ground.
loss.
Plants: Thyme, rosemary,
• Plants are usually shrubby, quite low and able to grow again
oregano, sage, lavender
after fires.
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Plant adaptations
Go to The Great Plant Hunt website at www.greatplanthunt.org to see these plant adaptation
images and lots more, including full details of the adaptations and environments.
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