Desert Grassland

Desert Grassland [ Ecology ]
(also semi-desert grassland)

Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names


	Desert grassland (also called semi-desert grassland) is a biome intermediate between the true prairies grasslands and deserts. The dominant vegetation are usually bunch grasses, frequently interspersed with desert shrubs and succulents.

Grass is the dominant life form but in comparison with prairie grassland, the grasses in desert grassland are shorter, less dense, and are more frequently mixed together with desert shrubs, cacti and succulents that may become the dominant species. Other well-represented life forms are annuals and geophytes. Desert grassland well described by its name is the most arid of the grasslands and often borders the true desert.

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Holdfast roots [ Botany ]
Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names

Some species of climbing plants develop holdfast roots which help to support the vines on trees, walls, and rocks. By forcing their way into minute pores and crevices, they hold the plant firmly in place.

Climbing plants, like the poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata), and trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans), develop holdfast roots which help to support the vines on trees, walls, and rocks. By forcing their way into minute pores and crevices, they hold the plant firmly in place. Usually the Holdfast roots die at the end of the first season, but in some species they are perennial. In the tropics some of the large climbing plants have hold-fast roots by which they attach themselves, and long, cord-like roots that extend downward through the air and may lengthen and branch for several years until they strike the soil and become absorbent roots.

Major references and further lectures:
1) E. N. Transeau “General Botany” Discovery Publishing House, 1994