Download Geog 1/15 Plant Adaptations to Dryness, Leaf Characteristics

Geog 1/15 Plant Adaptations to Dryness, Leaf Characteristics
Southern California has a Mediterranean climate (hot, dry summer, rainy winters).
Read up about these 2 So. California plant communities on Google & Google Images:
Coastal sage scrub (‘soft chaparral’) has low, scattered bushes on sunnier, drier, West- &
South-facing slopes; some are drought-deciduous so these slope are brown in dry seasons.
Chaparral (‘shrubland’) has thicker, woody, leathery-leaved shrubs on shadier, East- &
North-facing slopes. (Cowboys made leather ‘chaps’ to protect pants from branches.)
These are both fire-adapted ecosystems for strong regrowth after a lightning fire: Fire
adaptations include strong oils in plant tissues, crown-sprouting regrowth at root crown, and
many wildflower seeds which only germinate (sprout) after a fire (called “fire followers”).
Our shrubs + desert plants have common (xerophytic) plant adaptations to reduce
transpiration (water loss): ● small leaves (less surface so less transpiration)
● leathery (sclerophyll) or waxy coating (to keep water in)
● light color or shiny coating to increase reflectivity (thus decreasing heat absorption)
● succulent (juicy tissues), thorns or sharp edges (to reduce being eaten by herbivores)
● taco-shell-shaped or upward-growing leaves to reduce sun angle (reduce heat absorption)
● photosynthetic stems (green stems, branches which contain chlorophyll)
● small hairs (trap and keep overnight dew close to plant)
● drought-deciduous (lose leaves in dry summer because of heat stress)
● deep roots, or wide, shallow, extensive root system
Plant Drawing Assignment Instructions (will receive a letter grade based on effort):
● Studying 12 real plants if possible, neatly, carefully draw (copy) a cluster of leaves on
unlined paper, color with colored pencils (not ink, markers, or crayons), & label a few
characteristics showing their adaptations.
● Pay careful attention to textures, vein patterns, shade colors, & other characteristics
such as small hairs, spines, waxy or leathery coating, sharp or pointed edges, etc.
● Try to match green shades by blending other colors (yellow, brown, orange, purple).
● Wash hands after handling.
Shrubs (many stems): 1. California sagebrush (Artemisia, “cowboy cologne”),
2. (true) sage (Salvia, either white, black, purple or hummingbird sage), 3. lemonade berry,
4. coyote brush, 5. Toyon (CA’s ‘Christmas berry’), 6. poison oak, 7. blackberry.
Riparian (grow along water edge): 8. willow (tree), 4. mule fat (shrub),
10. Western sycamore (tree) (in circle by NEA Bldg.)
Succulent: 11. prickly pear cactus (Nopales, tunas fruits)
Needleleaf evergreen (coniferous) 12. pine (tree) (native at higher elevations, CA mtns.)