Leaf Arrangement Collects Water

Biological Strategy

Collospermum

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Capture, Absorb, or Filter Liquids

The most common liquid used by living systems is water, which they require to survive. But there are many other liquids that provide nourishment, play a role in defense mechanisms, or serve other purposes. Water varies in its availability; it is sometimes plentiful and sometimes very scarce or only available as fog or mist. To minimize the energy required to capture, absorb, or filter liquids, living systems have strategies that take advantage of the unique properties of the given liquid. For example, water moves from a gaseous to liquid state when it encounters a surface colder than the air. Plants in forests that experience fog and clouds more than rain have strategies that condense liquid water from moist air.

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Flowering Plants

Clade Angiosperms (“receptacle seed”): Dandelions, oaks, grasses, cacti, apples

With 416 families containing some 300,000 known species, angiosperms are the most diverse group of plants, and they can be found around the globe in a wide variety of habitats. They are characterized by seeds that grow enclosed in ovaries, which are enclosed in flowers. The floral organs then develop into fruits of myriad kinds and dimensions, from simple seed casings on maples to elaborate fleshy growths like papayas. The oldest flower known from fossils, Montsechia vidalii, appeared during the Jurassic Period 130 million years ago. They are the primary food source for herbivorous animals, which in turn makes them the indirect food source for carnivores as well.

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Leaves of Collospermum epiphytes capture water due to their fan-shaped arrangement.

Image: Kahuroa /

“Collospermums are more specialized as epiphytes…The form of the nests is similar to those of the astelias, but the leaves are different. They are broadly rounded at the base and arranged in wide fans with enclosed spaces between them that function as water tanks…Roots grow upward into the tanks to absorb water, and it has been suggested that scales on the inner leaf surfaces may also absorb water after the fashion of the bromeliads, but this has not been proved.” (Dawson and Lucas 2005:39-41)

Last Updated October 24, 2016

References

Book

The Nature of Plants: Habitats, Challenges, and Adaptations

01/02/2005 | John Dawson, Rob Lucas

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