370 
PECULIARITIES OF PLANT LIFE 
in the water, while others, like the waterlilies, live partly 
in the water, lifting their leaves and flowers into the air. 
Plants which live in the water are called hydrophytes 
(hy'dro-fites: Greek, hydor, water; phyton, plant). If 
such plants have roots, they are little more than holdfasts, 
for the hydrophytes do not need organs of absorption. 
Most of the members of this plant society are without 
mechanical tissue, for the water holds them firmly on all 
sides. The algae lack a conducting system as well, for 
Figure 343. — Sage Brush — Xerophytes. 
their source of food is all about them. Waterlilies get 
their oxygen and much of their carbon dioxide from the 
air through their leaves, which float on the surface of the 
water with the stomata on top. Air passages in the long, 
slender stems convey air to the roots which lie in the mud. 
Hydrophytes which lie under water have their leaves finely 
divided to offer as much surface as possible to the water 
and thus secure a full supply of oxygen. 
Plants which live in desert regions, of necessity, have to 
live on little water. They are called xerophytes (zer'o-fltes: 
