 |
 |
|
|
First impressions Water, water, everywhere The Amazon forest is hot and humid. The air is fragrant and there is water everywhere. Trees with stilt roots Their stilt roots keep them anchored in the moist soil. Trees with buttress roots CSome of them are giants that can easily grow to 50 metres tall. Their large buttress roots keep them firmly anchored in the ground. Epiphytes Epiphytic plants climb on other plants as they grow. Lianas or roots? A tropical forest is often full of a tangle of intertwined lianas and aerial roots. Lianas are climbing plants that lack underground roots; they twine themselves or their tendrils around trees as they grow upward in search of light. Aerial roots grow downward from a plant’s stem into the ground. Did you know that vanilla comes from a liana?. Spiny palms Their trunks and leaves are covered in long black spines, which prevent some animals from eating their fruit. Leaves Leaves come in all sorts of different shapes. Some leaves are small, thick and waxy, to prevent them from drying out in the heat of the sun. Others are large and flexible, to absorb as much sunlight as possible. These leaves grow on other leaves, a form of asexual reproduction. Flowers Birds, insects and bats pollinate these brightly coloured flowers. Some flowers, like those of the Pachira aquatica, last only 24 hours. Fruit Many animals in the forest eat fruit.
For more information: |
|