HYDROPHYTES

Part 2
BSc. (Hons) III Prepared by -
Paper VII Ecological Biology Dr. jyoti pandey

2 -Free-Floating Hydrophytes:
They can be -

 Floating hydrophytes- Plants of this group remain free floating on the surface of the water.
They remain in contact with water and air but not soil. eg. Wolffia, Spirodella, lemna etc.

 Rooted with their leaves floating on the surface- In some species the roots remain embedded
in the mud and only leaves and flowers float on the surface of water. e.g., Nymphaea,
Limnanthemum, Victoria regia, Euryale ferox, Trapa etc.

1
They show following adaptations:

Roots:
 The roots are feebly developed and are in the process of disappearance. For instance in
Spirodella, there are several roots, but Lemna possesses only one root, and in Wolffia roots
are altogether absent.
 Roots are mostly hairless and develop root-pockets, which resemble with the root caps of
mesophytic plants.
 The epidermis is single-layered and thin-walled. There is absence
of cuticle. Roots are able to absorb water and minerals directly
from the surrounding medium.
 The mechanical tissue is mostly absent.
 Cortex is well developed and has air cavities.
 The vascular strand is either undifferentiated or very poorly
differentiated into xylem and phloem. In Lemna, there is no
distinct vascular tissue in the root.

Stem/ Petiole/Rhizome:

 Stem or rhizome is well differentiated. In Nymphaea, the petiole shows well

differentiated epidermis, hypodermis, cortex and vascular
bundles.
 Epidermis is thin-walled and single-layered and is
covered with mucilage.
 Cuticle is absent.
 Cortex occupies bulk of the stem. It has large air
spaces. The air filled in these spaces helps in respiration and
adds to the buoyancy of the floating plant. Cortical cells are
thin-walled and may even possess chloroplasts if light it
available.

2
  A large number of stellate sclereids may be present associated with the air spaces in the
cortex. Since, no other mechanical tissue is present in the petiole stellate sclereids provide
mechanical strength.

 Vascular bundles are found scattered among the cortical cells. The vascular tissue is poorly
differentiated. The xylem vessels are thin- walled and the phloem is represented by only few
narrow sieve-tubes.

Leaves:

 As the leaves are the chief organs of floating, very loose tissue with large air spaces is found
in the leaf blades. Such a tissue enables the leaves to float on the surface of the water.
 The leaf has distinct epidermis, but the cuticle is always absent.
 Waxy coating may be present on the upper surface of
the leaf which prevents the wetting of upper surface
and clogging of the stomata by water.
 The stomata are restricted to the upper epidermis of
the leaf.
 Mesophyll is well differentiated into the palisade
tissue and the spongy tissue. The spongy tissue possesses large air spaces filled with air.
 Stellate sclereids are present in the mesophyll.
 Vascular tissue is poorly developed.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………end of part2