Question

Phyllode is found in:
A. Clematis
B. Gloriosa
C. Acacia
D. Dischidia

Answer 1

Hint: A tree that grows to forty feet in height possess phyllodes. Some of their types can be as high as seventy feet and have a diameter of three feet. Most of these tree species have pinnate, green leaves. They are arranged in a dense way on the branches and give the appearance of a massive fern.

Complete answer:
The Phyllodes, which are like leaves in appearance and function, are modified petioles or leaf stems. These are flattened and extended in some plants, while the leaf itself is reduced or disappears. The phyllode therefore serves the function of the leaf.

Clematis leaves grow along the stalks in pairs. The shapes of the leaves vary from one to the next. The petiole is converted to tendril in them.

In Gloriosa, The stem reaches four meters long and is scandalous, climbing by using modified leaf-tip tendril. The leaves are mostly arranged alternately, but can also be opposite. The blades leaf tip stretches into a tendril and twines around other plants to support them.

The petiole or any section of the rachis in the Acacia becomes flattened or winged and green in leaf form. This flattened or winged rachis or petiole is popularly known as the phyllode.

In Dischidia, leaf-lamina is transformed into a leaf-pitcher-like structure. Leaf Pitcher is a tool for capturing insects in the medium where the plant grows for satisfying the nitrogen deficiency.

Hence, The correct answer is option (C).

Additional information:
In the mosses, the phyllodes are referred to as leaf-like structures of the moss plant at the gametophyte level. Phyllodes are not called true leaves, although they are identical in appearance and function. It's because phyllodes don't have vascular tissue.

Note: Flatter, larger forms of petioles are phyllodes. They are present in most acacia and shrub plants. Many phyllodes begin as seedlings with real leaves, but fall away once the phyllodes have grown.