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A cactus plant preserves water by the cooperation of select body parts and body functions. For example, above ground, its stem is flexible and encased in a thick outer covering. Its flexibility allows it to contract with lesser amounts of water intake through the roots, and to expand with greater amounts. The result is a snug fit that keeps greater amounts of water from feeling confined and in need of escape.

A cactus plant's pores for breathing, or stomata, find their behavior controlled by guard cells on either side of their openings. The guards make sure that the least amount of water or water vapor gets lost from inside. They control gas exchange. So they also make sure that the most amount of carbon dioxide is taken in, for the photosynthetic interaction that produces energizing starches and sugars for the plant.

A cactus plant's modified leaves make sure that little above ground moisture is lost. There's a reason for their thin shapes as thorns, spines, spikes, quills, prongs, needles, hairs, or bristles. These shapes are the most cooperative in channeling condensation or moisture in the form of dew, fog or rain to the ground, where it's taken up by the underground water table or by the plant's underground roots.

Below ground, a cactus plant's roots are always spreading, shallow, and fibrous. This helps the plant to have first access to water precisely where it first enters, at the soil surface. The roots take in water and dissolved nutrients, for the previously mentioned photosynthetic interaction with sunlight.

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15y ago

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