Plant classification

• Plant classifications based on structure in relation to water supply

  • Hydrophytes
  • Mesophytes
  • Xerophytes
• Hydrophytes e.g. Water lily


  • Live with their roots submerged in the mud at the bottom of a pond
  • Have floating leaves on the pond surface
  • Have little need for support or transport tissues
  • Have little or no cuticle
  • Have stomata only on upper leaf surface
  • Have large air spaces in stem and leaf tissue
• Xerophytes e.g. marram grass

  • lives where water is scarce
  • Have modified structures to prevent excessive water loss
  • e.g. rolled leaves, sunken stomata, hairs, thick cuticle, sclerenchyma
• Mesophytes

  • Plants of temperate regions
  • Flourish in habitats with adequate water supply
  • Need to survive unfavourable times of the year by shedding their leaves, surviving underground or as dormant seeds