How are the plants adapted to water scarcity and heat? Comment.

Explanation

Adaptations to Water Scarcity. The plants of hot deserts are adapted to survive in dry conditions of soil and high temperatures. The plants which evade dry conditions are known as ephemerals. These have the following adaptations :
(i) They have deep tap roots which can reach up to water table level in arid climates as in Prosopis (mesquite), palms and some species of Acacia.
(ii) Stomata arę sunken in Oleander (Nerium).
(iii) Leaves are deciduous, leathery with waxy cuticle in order to perform low respiration.
(iv) In Cacti, leaves are reduced to spines and stems are modified into fleshy and spongy structures. Some cacti have expandable stems for storing water and have spreading root systems in the surface layer of the soil.