Question

They are dominant plants of cold desert ________.
A. Shrub and small trees
B. Low stature shrub and perennial grass
C. Tall trees and herbaceous plants
D. Low stature shrub and herbaceous plants

Answer 1

Hint:The vegetations in a cold desert should be drought resistant and able to conserve as much water as possible.
The plants in the cold desert are saltbush, black sage, rice grass, and Chrysothamnus.

Complete answer:
The dominant plants of the cold deserts are low stature shrubs and herbaceous plants.
Algae, grasses, plants with spiny thin leaves are some of the examples of plants found in cold deserts.
The spiny thin leaves help to prevent the evaporation of water in the cold deserts.
The plants in the cold desert are saltbush, black sage, rice grass, and Chrysothamnus.
Deserts are dry and receive very little rainfall.
Also, they are windy which increases the evaporation rate.
So the leaves of these plants are adapted with the waxy coating to prevent or decrease the rate of evaporation
The plants here grow very slowly and have bright colored leaves to absorb more heat from sunlight.
The slow growth helps them in storing nutrients during the process of photosynthesis and also survive the winter so that they can grow again in summer.
These plants are good at storing and finding water for which they have widely spread and shallow roots.
The seeds of some plants are dormant till there is enough rain to grow.
The spines protect them from becoming prey to desert animals.
The plants have an extensive root system wherein the roots can also come to the surface to soak up rainwater quickly or go deeper down in search of water.

Hence the correct answer is option (D).

Note: Plants in the desert have waxy coats as they are adapted to heat.
Whereas plants in a rainforest have big leaves as they are adapted to low light.
Therefore depending on the climatic conditions, the vegetations of a particular area are adapted.