Question

Acacia arabica is a
a. Mesophyte
b. Hydrophyte
c. Xerophyte
d. Halophyte

Answer 1

Hint: Acacia Arabica (Babun) is a medicinal tree found in India's dried & sandy parts. It is well known for its use as Datun for teeth cleaning. These plant leaves are small and vestigial to cut transpiration.

Complete answer:
> Mesophytes are terrestrial plants that are not adapted to environments that are particularly dry or especially wet. Mesophytes prefer soil and air of moderate humidity and avoid soil with or containing a large abundance of salts with standing water.

> Plants that have adapted to life in aquatic environments are hydrophytes. A hydrophyte is a plant that is either emerging, submergent, or floating and grows in or near water. Hydrophytes provide shelter for fish in lakes and rivers, provide a substratum for aquatic invertebrates, produce oxygen and serve as food for some fish and wildlife.

> A xerophyte is a plant species that has adaptations to live in a desert or ice-covered or snow-covered area in the Alps or the Arctic, in a climate with little liquid water. The leaves are waxy and thorny, preventing moisture and water loss. They can even store water for their fleshy stems.

> A halophyte is a salt-tolerant plant that, through its roots or through salt spray, grows in soil or waters of high salinity and comes into contact with salty water, such as in salty semi-deserts, mangrove swamps, marshes and sloughs, and seashores.

Acacia arabica tree is one which can be grown with little amount of water and is widely distributed throughout arid and semi-arid zones of the world.. Therefore Acacia arabica belongs to a family of xerophytes.

Hence, the correct answer is option (C).

Note: In India, Acacia species are generally referred to as 'Babool' and have long been used ethnomedical for the treatment of skin, stomach and teeth problems. It has been reported that the fresh plant parts of this species are most active against the Hepatitis C virus 12. It is an effective multipurpose tree commonly used to treat various diseases, such as colds, bronchitis, diarrhoea, dysentery, bilious disease, bleeding piles, and leucoderma.