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Plant Adaptations

Australian plants are champions when it comes to adaptations. They have to be!

Plants can’t get up and run from a fire or move into the shade if it gets too hot (most of the time they ARE in the shade!). They just have to come up with clever tricks (adaptations) that will help them survive the environment they are growing in, PLUS survive all the other weather Australia throws at them, like drought, floods, cyclones and heat waves! Australia’s environments have led to some pretty special plants that exist nowhere else in the world. Because of this, we have decided to hold a Plant Adaptation Awards Night!! The award categories include the Water Saving Award, Fire Proof Award, Sun Catcher Award and the Epic Survivor Award.

The nominations are in, the judges have chosen and it’s time to announce the Plant Adaptation Award Winners!
Let the ceremony begin!

Water Saving Award

Our nominations included some pretty clever physical adaptations to survive in sunny, hot and dry environments like this....

There’s not much water around the dry environment so these plants have to try really hard to hold onto the water they do have.

The nominees in this category display these types of adaptations.

Reduced leaves
Reduces water loss.
Thick and fleshy stem
Stores water.
Thin leaves
Reduces water loss.
Thick waxy covering on leaves and stem
Reduces water loss, prevents fungus/bacteria from growing in moist conditions.
Hairy leaves
Hairs reflect some light, which reduces heat and reduces water loss.
Deep roots
To get water below the earth's surface.

Water Saving Award

Paper Daisies

The award-winning adaptations of a Paper Daisy

Fire Proof Award

Australia has a long history of bushfires in forest and woodland environments like this…

It takes some very impressive adaptations for plants to be able to survive fire.

Let’s check out the adaptations that made the nominations…

Back up buds
Some plants have special back up buds that can grow leaves straight from the trunk after a fire. The scientific name is epicormic buds.
 
Thick bark
Thick bark helps protect the back-up buds so they are not damaged in the fire.
 
Fire-loving seed pods
Lots of plants have become so adapted to fire that they need it to release their seeds. Their seeds are protected in hard pods that open after fire when it’s safe for the seeds to fall out.
 
Seeds that grow after fire
After fire, when it rains, seedlings germinate in the ash-rich soil. The fire helps clear space for them to grow without having to compete with bigger plants for sunlight and water.

Watch this time lapse video to see plants recovering after bushfires in NSW. Video credit: On Demand News 

Fire Proof Award

Banksias

The award-winning adaptations of a Banksia

Banksias do it all! They are the masters of fire.

Sun Catcher Award

Our nominations include adaptations to help plants survive in wet, places that don’t get much sunlight. We’re talking about rainforest environments like this…

Adaptations in these conditions include:

Large leaves
The bigger the leaf, the more sunlight they can catch to make food for the plant.
Dark green leaves
Dark green leaves absorb more sunlight than lighter coloured leaves.
Drip tips
Leaves that end in a point help water run off quickly so algae can’t grow and stop it from catching sun light.
Climbing plants
Thorns, spines and tendrils help plants climb up towards the sunlight.
Epiphytes
Some plants grow on the trunks of trees so they can be closer to the sun.

The Sun-Catcher Award

Fan Palms

The award-winning adaptations of a Fan Palm

Epic Survivor Award

There was only one nomination for this award. No other plant has been able to survive unchanged in its environment as long as this plant has. It seems to have developed the perfect adaptations for its canyon environment because we are talking 200 million years of survival! This plant is so old it has seen dinosaurs! In fact, you could even call it a Pine-osaur!

Epic Survivor Award

The Wollemi Pine

Learn more about this amazing plant here

Activities - Plant adaptations

1. Pretend you are hosting the Plant Adaptations Awards.

You can learn about the adaptations of carnivorous plants here.
With a partner, act out giving an award to a carnivorous plant.
What are they getting the award for? What are their cool adaptations?
What will the carnivorous plant say in its thankyou speech? How might it act?

2. Plant hunt

Can you find any water saving plants, sun catching plants or fire proof plants at your school?  What type did you have the most of? Why do you think that might be?

 Click here to download the 'Plant Adaptations Hunt' worksheet


3. Model plants after a bushfire

Using playdough or clay and natural materials, model what happens after a bushfire. What do the fireproof plants do to recover?

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