Chapter 1 Nutrition in Plants

Q/Ans

Q1. Name a parasitic plant with yellow, slender and tubular stem.

Ans. Cuscuta

Q2. Give one example of parasite.

Ans. Amarbel

Q3. Name one plant that traps and feeds on insects.

Ans. Pitcher Plant

Q4. Name a plant that has both autotrophic and heterotrophic mode of nutrition.

Ans. Insectivorous Plant

Q5. Write an equation that represents the process photosynthesis.

Ans.

Q6. What are insectivorous plants?

Ans. Insect-eating plants such as pitcher plant are called insectivorous plants.

Q7. What do you mean by nutrition?

Ans. Nutrition is the mode of taking food by an organism and its utilization by the body.

Q8. Why photosynthesis is named so?

Ans. Since the synthesis of food occurs in the presence of sunlight, it is called
photosynthesis (Photo: light; synthesis: to combine).

Q9. Why is nitrogenous fertilizer not added in soil in which leguminous plants are
grown?

Ans. Nitrogenous fertilisers are not added to the soil in which leguminous plants are
grown because these plants can fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil with the help of the
bacteria Rhizobium present in their root nodules. These bacteria can fix the atmospheric
nitrogen in soluble compounds which can be absorbed by the plants.

Q10. How does an insectivorous plant absorb nutrients from an insect trapped by it?

Ans. Insectivorous plants secrete digestive juices to digest the insect trapped by them.
These plants then absorb the nutrients released from the digested insect.

Q11. How will you test a leaf for starch? Mention any precautions you will take.

Ans. Test for starch:

 Pluck one of the green leaves that have been exposed to sunlight.
 Boil that leaf in water for 5 minutes to soften it.
 Then put the leaf in a test tube containing alcohol. Now, gently place this test tube
in a beaker of warm water till the alcohol starts boiling. The chlorophyll will
slowly get dissolved in the alcohol and the leaf will start losing its green colour.
 Now, remove the alcohol by washing the leaf with warm water. Then spread the
leaf over a white tile and add some iodine solution to it.
 Wash the leaf with water to remove the iodine solution and then hold it in light.
The parts of leaf which have starch will turn blue-black.