Take a deep breath. Every time you breathe your lungs fill up with different gases from the air – 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and 1% other gases such as carbon dioxide or hydrogen.
That breath you just took would not have been possible without plants. Plants really are life-givers. They are our main source of oxygen and the oldest form of life on our planet. When green plants began to appear about 2,000 years ago they introduced oxygen into the atmosphere.
Come to the Ozone Area and see how a world without plants really would leave us gasping for air!
Some Like It Hot
- Hot springs panic grass (Dichanthelium lanuginosum) can live in temperatures that are constantly over 45 degrees Celsius – that is warmer than the hottest day ever recorded in Britain. It does this thanks to a type of fungus that grows on its roots protecting the plant from high temperatures.
Cold as Ice – Rye can survive in some of the harshest conditions on Earth. These plants can keep going at temperatures of minus 35 degrees Celsius.
Living on Thin Air – Air plants are sturdy organisms that do not need soil or proper roots and can survive where most plants would die. They get all the nutrients and water they need from the rain and dust in the air, absorbing them through their leaves.
Thirsty Work – In areas where it is very dry, plants like the cactus have found ways to store lots of water between rainfalls by having fat stems and opening their stomata only after dark when it is cool.
Blowing in the Wind – The birdcage plant has several long stems with white flowers. When the plant has finished flowering its stems start to dry out and curl upward into the shape of a birdcage. The growing conditions in the desert are always changing and this plant has adapted to this by letting itself be uprooted. Its spherical shape means it can be blown across the sand for miles spreading
seeds as it goes.