Plants adapted to hot, dry environments (known as xerophytes or succulents) often store water in specialized tissues to survive periods of drought. This water is typically stored in large parenchyma cells, which are found in fleshy stems, leaves, or roots. These storage tissues allow the plant to maintain its metabolic processes when water is scarce in the soil.
Producing many leaves would increase the surface area available for transpiration, leading to rapid water loss and dehydration in hot, dry conditions.
Stomata are the primary sites for water vapour to exit the plant. Having many stomata would accelerate water loss; instead, desert plants usually have fewer stomata to conserve moisture.
While some evergreen plants are drought-tolerant, "evergreen" simply means the plant retains its leaves year-round. In extreme hot and dry conditions, many plants actually shed their leaves (deciduous behavior) to reduce water loss rather than keeping them.
There is an explanation video available below.
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