Plant adaptations

In your book, Alex remembers cactus plants with thick, fleshy stems in the deserts of Rajasthan. Maya has seen deodar trees in the Himalayas of Himachal Pradesh: they are conical (cone-shaped), with flexible, sloping branches. Why are the plants of one place so different from those of another?

Deserts have very little water. A hot desert is very hot by day and very cold at night. The thick, fleshy stem of the cactus stores water, which helps it bear the heat. (Most cacti also have spines instead of broad leaves, so they lose less water. Your book does not mention this, but it is true.)

Cold mountains get frequent snowfall. The deodar's conical shape and sloping branches let the snow slide off easily, instead of piling up and breaking the branches.

Rhododendrons have beautiful bright flowers. In the Shola forests of the Nilgiris they are shorter, with smaller leaves, so they can survive the heavy winds on the mountain tops: a tall plant would snap. But Pema, who is from Sikkim, has seen taller rhododendrons near her home. The same kind of plant can look different in different regions.

Animals do this too. Dogs in hot Delhi have short hair; dogs high in the Himalaya have long, thick coats.

The book's word for this: adaptations are special features that help plants and animals survive in a particular region. The deodar's shape and the rhododendron's height are adaptations.