Question

What happens if the Rhoeo leaves are boiled in water first and then a drop of sugar is put on it?
A) The cell gets killed on boiling, so no plasmolysis.
B) The cells will shrink.
C) The cells will swell.
D) The swollen cells start floating.

Answer 1

Hint: Rhoeo leaves are commonly referred to as the Mosses in the Cradle. It is a herbaceous plant with a thick and unbranched stem. It can be identified with the characteristic purple colour on the lower surface of its leaf.

Complete Answer:
Let us analyse the options to find the correct answer,

Option A: The moment the Rhoeo leaves are boiled, their cells along with their cellular organelles are killed due to the wrath of the increasing temperature. On account of this, all the dead cells lose their cell integrity thereby liberating all the cellular components out of the cell. Therefore, such leaves show complete lack of both the processes i.e. osmosis and plasmolysis. Therefore, this is the correct option.

Option B: The cells won’t shrink in boiling water as the leaf is already dead. Therefore, this is the incorrect option.

Option C: The cells won’t swell in the presence of the boiling water as the leaf is already dead. Therefore, this is the incorrect option.

Option D: Rhoeo leaf cells do not float on account of boiling them in the presence of water as the leaf is already dead. Therefore, this is the incorrect option.

Thus, the correct option is A) The cells get killed on boiling so no plasmolysis.

Note: The addition of the sugar syrup to the dead Rhoeo leaves results in halting the osmotic process.