1 Reasoning questions – Botany XII

1. How do halophytes cope with salt marshes?

Halophytes cope with salt marshes by actively absorbing salts into their roots. The cells
of the roots, as consequence, develop a lower water potential which brings in water
actively by osmosis. The excess salt it either stored in cells or excreted out by special salt
glands.

2. What to you understand by the term ‘hydathode’?

HYDATHODE: A modified pore, found at the margins and tips of leaves, that excretes
water from the epidermis during guttation.

3. Why does excretion not pose a problem in plants?

Excretion does not pose a problem because:
I – The rate of catabolic process is much less therefore metabolic wastes accumulate
much slower.
II- The waste products of catabolism are used by green plants in their anabolic processes.
Green plants do not excrete nitrogenous wastes, on the contrary they recycle the
breakdown products of nitrogen metabolism.
III- The waste products are usually CO2 and water, that are far less harmful than the
nitrogenous wastes produced by proteins metabolism in animals.

4. Why does plant cell not burst even if places constantly in hypotonic
solution?
Allowing a cell to be placed constantly into a hypotonic solution does not cause it to
burst because the cell wall develops a tension causing an internal hydrostatic
pressure or pressure potential due to which further uptake of water in the cytoplasm
is restricted and finally stopped.

5. Why hydrophytes do not have cuticle on stem or leaves?

The cuticle is a layer of tissue on the outside of most leaves and stems, and its
primary function is to help the plant conserve moisture. The outermost layer of the
cuticle is waxy, which effectively seals in water. As hydrophytes are partially or
completely submerged in water, and have no difficulty obtaining water. In order to
maintain the balance between water uptake and transpiration, they possess stomata
on the surface of leaves but as cuticle is a hindrance in transpiration, hydrophytes
generally lack it.

6. What are ‘succulents’?

The plants that store water in large parenchymatous cells present in stem or leaves,
in order to conserve water, are called succulents. As a result, the stem or leaves
become juicy.

7. What are heat shock proteins?

The proteins synthesized by enzymes at 40o or above to protect enzymes and other
proteins from denaturing during the high temperature are called heat shock
proteins.
2 Reasoning questions – Botany XII

8. Why does wilting of leaves take place on hot summer days?

Cells remain firm and rigid due to turgor pressure that is developed internally. When
cells lose water in hot summer days, they also lose their turgidity, which causes
wilting in herbaceous stem and leaves.

9. How does the exposed tissue of cortex become protected when primary
epidermis falls off in stem?
During secondary growth, primary epidermis split, dries and falls off in stem. To
protect the exposed tissues of cortex and to increase the diameter, Phellogen or Cork
cambium arises in the cortex.

10. How girth of stem increases from year to year?

Girth of the stem increases due to lateral meristem. They are found beneath the bark
(called cork cambium) and in vascular bundles of dicot roots and stems (called
vascular cambium) as thin layers. This increase in the diameter and girth of the plant
is called secondary growth.

11. How young stem gives mechanical support to the body?

The anatomical arrangement of young stem gives mechanical support to the plant
consisting of a thin walled epidermis, regions beneath the epidermis called cortex
and central portion called stele. Mechanical support is provided due to the presence
of Parenchyma (for turgidity), collenchyma (thick walled tissues), sclerenchyma
(dead tissues) and stele (vascular bundles).

12. Why leaves of ‘touch-me-not’ close down on touching?

The leaves of mimosa pudica or touch-me-not close down or collapse on touching
due to seismonastic movement. It undergoes shock and its leaflets fold together due
to rapid loss of turgor by cells of the leaflets.

13. Why sclereids are called stone cells?

Sclereids, a type of sclerenchyamtous supporting tissue, are called stone cells because
they have highly lignified cells and negligible intercellular spaces that provide great
hardness to them, making them common in hard parts of the seeds.

14. What is meant by turgor pressure?

When parenchyma takes in water by endosmosis, they become extended and turgid. This
causes them to develop an internal pressure known as turgor pressure that causes the
parenchymatous parts to become rigid and firm.
3 Reasoning questions – Botany XII

15. What are annual rings?

The plants of temperate regions accumulate secondary sylem in the form of
concentric layers (usually of tracheids, vessels and fibres) every year known as
annual rings.

16. Which is;

i- growth inhibitor hormone?
Abscisic Acid
ii- growth regulator hormone?
Gibberellin.
iii- growth promoting hormone?
Auxin.

17. What is pullvinus?

Pullvinus is the swollen portion of the petiole composed of parenchymatous cells
with relatively larger intercellular spaces and central strand of vascular tissues.q

18. What are the first and second lines of defense in plants against
pathogens?
The epidermal layer of a plant acts as the first line of defense against pathogens. But
some pathogens become successful to enter through wounds or natural openings like
stomata. Once the pathogenic invasion takes place, the plant uses chemicals to attack
a pathogen as its second line of defense. The infected plant produces a variety of
compounds called phytoalexins, an antibiotic that destroys or inhibits the
growth of microorganisms. During infection, molecules of pathogen and infected
plant tissues work as an alarm substance.

19. Why ethene is considered fruit ripening hormone?

Ethene is considered fruit ripening hormone because it affects the permeability of
membrane, which allows enzymes responsible for destroying chloroplast to be
released with the result of red and yellow colour being unmasked and fruit obtaining
ripened colour.

20. How plants cope with cold stress?

When temperature falls, a change in the fluidity of the cell membrane occurs. The
lipids are locked into crystalline structures. This alters the transport in the solute.
Plants respond to this by altering the lipid composition of the membrane. In freezing
environment they produce different polymers of fructose which allow cytosol to be
super cooled with ice crystal formations only in the cell wall.

21. Why high heat stresses the plant?

Heat actively stresses a plant because high heat in the environment can be very
harmful and can ultimately kill a plant by permanently denaturing its enzymes and
damaging the metabolism of the organism.
4 Reasoning questions – Botany XII

22. Where are phytohormones produced?

Synthesis and production of phytohormones take place in young embryonic tissues
are there is no specific organ for their production or synnthesis in plants.

23. What is meant by monoecious and diecious plant?

- monoecious: Staminate and carpellate on the same flower.
- Diecious: unisexual flowers, either staminate or carpellate.

24.What is hypocotyle and epicotyle?

Hypocotyl: The region of axis just below the cotyledons.
Epicotyl: The region of axis above the cotyledons.

25. What is double fertilization?

in angiosperms, the fusion of gametes occurs twice. One male gamete fuse with the
egg cell forming the zygote and the second male gamete fuse with secondary nucleus
forming triploid endosperm -nucleus. This phenomenon of occurrence of this fusion
of gametes is called double fertilization.

26.What is the role of pollen tube in fertilization?

Vehicle for sperms: The evolution of pollen tubes parallels the evolution of seed.
The egg produced inside the ovule is so well protected that a flagellated sperm does
not have the slightest chance of reaching the egg. However, the development of
pollen tubes have helped overcome this obstacle.

27. In how many ways does light influence rate of growth?

Light is a very important condition for plant growth. It influences it in the following
ways.
i- Intensity: High intensity of light destroys the chlorophyll which ultimately effects
the rate of photosynthesis.
ii – Quality : Red light favors

28. elongation of cells and blue light enhances cell division. Ultraviolet light destroys the
protoplasm and retards growth.
iii- Duration: It effects growth of vegetative and reproductive structures.

29.Why did Mendel choose Pea plant as an experimental material?

According to Mendel, pea plant had the following favorable characters:
i- They are easy to cultivate
ii- This plant is self-pollinating and cross pollination can only be performed
artificially.
iii- Artificial breeding is easy as flowers are comparatively large with characters, such
as height, seed surface, seed colour and colour of flower.
iv- Resulting hybrid are fertile.
v- To avoid the complexities that troubled the earlier scientists.
5 Reasoning questions – Botany XII

30. How would you explain the inheritance of explain the inheritance of
the skin colour in human beings or the colour of Kernal in Corn?
The inheritance of skin colour in human beings or colour of kernel in corn is explained
by the phenomena of polygenic inheritance. These are the traits that are controlled by
two or more than two separate pair of genes that manifest themselves in an additive
manner in such a way that they yield continuously varying traits.

31. *Why Haemophilia is rare in women as compared to men?

Haemophilia is comparatively rare in women as Y chromosome is inert for this trait.
A man needs only one gene controlling this character while a woman needs both
genes to be of controlling character. This occurs very rarely as very few haemophilliac
males survive and reproduce.

32. Why is test cross performed?

Test cross is performed to determine of evaluate the homozygousity or
heterozygousity of the dominant parent.

33. How and when do Meiotic Error takes place?

Sometimes the two chromosomes of a homologous pair fail to separate during
anaphase, which result in the formation of abnormal daughter cells, is due to meiotic
error and is called non-disjunction, which is responsible for abnormal chromosomal
number.

34. Why special types of forests are named temperate deciduous forest?
The deciduous forest of tempereate regions are called so as the term deciduous
applies to those plants which shed off their leaves during winter season, a trait found
so in these type of forests.
35. Why coniferous forests are so called?
Coniferous forests are composed of evergreen, cold resistant gymnosperm plants
found at high altitude called conifers, hence called coniferous forests.

36. What is denitrification?

The denitrifying bacteria are present in soil and they reverse the process of
nitrification and so reduce soil fertility. These bacteria are anaerobic and they use
nitrates as oxidizing agent instead of oxygen and so some of the nitrogen us wasted.
It is due to this fact that good drainage and through ploughing restricts their activity
and helps in increasing soil fertility.

37. Why water is the most important factor of ecosystem?

Water is the most important factor of an ecosystem because the distribution of
vegetation is directly related with the amount of water.
6 Reasoning questions – Botany XII

38.Why distribution of population depends upon climatic factors?

Terrestrial habitat is mainly influenced by environmental and climatic conditions like
temperature, soil, rainfall, humidity etc which contribute to the surroundings and
therefore the distribution of population depends upon the climatic factors of an
ecosystem.

39. How water from deep sea is brought coastal surface?

The water from deep sea is brought to the coastal surface by the action of wind,
which moves the surface water away, while deeper water comes up to the surface.
This is known as upwelling.