If you think that all plants look and act alike, you’re in for a surprise. Plants come in more shapes and colours and live in more places than you can imagine. They have some unusual ways to get their food and water, too.
New Zealand has a plant that looks like a soft cushion. It’s called a cushion plant. It’s made up of thousands of tiny stems with millions of little leaves. The leaves are covered with tiny hairs. The stems are so close together that the plant looks like one big green cushion. In winter, the plant turns white, giving it a woolly look.
Some plants live by “stealing” food or water from other plants. When the dodder sprouts from the ground, it begins to grow towards the nearest plant. The dodder soon wraps itself around the other plant. It gets its food and water by sucking them out of the other plant. Mistletoe also gets its water this way. Mistletoe grows on many kinds of trees, with its roots sunk deep into the tree’s branches.
Some plants even move! They don’t actually get up and walk around, but they open and close, or fold and unfold. For example, if you touch the leaves of the sensitive plant, they will fold up suddenly and droop. Then, in a short time, they will unfold and straighten up again.
Picture Credit : Google