EVS Content (Plant Kingdom) - CTET & State TET MCQ

Khejadli or Khejarli is a village in the Jodhpur district of Rajasthan. The name of the town is derived from Khejadi trees that were once abundant in the village.

Key Points

About Khejadi tree:

• Its scientific name is Prosopis cineraria.
• It is known by different names across India, e.g. Shami in Maharastra & Uttar Pradesh, Jammi in Telangana, Khijro in Gujarat, Khejri in Rajasthan, Janti in Haryana, and Jand in Punjab.
• It is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae.
• The Khejadi tree is found mainly in desert areas.
• It can grow without much water.
• Its bark is used for making medicines.
• People cook and eat its fruits.
• Its wood is such that it is not affected by insects.
• Animals in the area eat the leaves of the Khejadi.

​Therefore, the correct answer is Rajasthan.

Additional Information

About the Khejadli village:

• In the Khejadli village, no tree is cut and no animal is harmed. 
• The people of Khejadli village take the responsibility of protecting the Khejadi trees upon themselves as a part of their culture.
• The people of Khejadli village are well known for their revolt against the king, who has ordered the felling down of these Khejadi trees for wood.
• The people hugged the trees and did not let them go and died saving them.
• Even today, the people of this area, called Bishnois, continue to protect plants and animals.
• Even though in the middle of the desert, this area is green and animals roam freely without fear.​

The correct answer is Only B and C.

Key Points

The main function(s) of the stem include:

• To give strength and support to the plant.
• To transport water and minerals from roots to other parts of the plant.
  • The stem of a plant serves as a structural support, holding up leaves, flowers, and fruits.
  • It provides stability to the plant and keeps it upright.
  • Additionally, the stem contains vascular tissues, such as the xylem and phloem, which are responsible for the transport of water, minerals, and nutrients from the roots to various parts of the plant, including leaves, flowers, and fruits.

​Additional Information

• Plants serve various important roles in the ecosystem and interact with their surroundings in multiple ways.
• Plants play a crucial role in preventing soil erosion.
• The root systems of plants help hold the soil in place, reducing the risk of erosion caused by wind or water.
• By anchoring themselves in the ground, plants bind the soil particles together, making it less susceptible to being washed away.
• Furthermore, plants provide us with seeds, many of which are edible and serve as a valuable food source.
• They contain the necessary nutrients and genetic material for the growth of new plants.

Concept:

Desert plants have adapted themselves to survive in arid and hot environments where water is scarce.

Explanation:

• To prevent water loss through transpiration, many desert plants have evolved spines instead of leaves.
• Spines reduce the surface area of the plant, thereby reducing water loss.
• Additionally, deep roots help desert plants reach deeper layers of soil to absorb moisture from the ground.
• On the other hand, the leaves of the cactus are modified into spines, and it performs photosynthesis in its stem instead of leaves, which again reduces water loss.

Therefore, options A and C are correct as they represent the adaptations of desert plants to conserve water.

Concept:

Onion farming:

• Onion is the crop that is cultivated during the month of July.
• For cultivating onions the farmer has to dig the soil and make it soft.
• It is also necessary to drop the right amount of seeds at a regular distance during sowing seeds.

Explanation:

Problems of weed during onion farming:

• After twenty days after the seeds were sown the onion plants started to sprout.
• Along with onion plants, weeds have also come up.
• Weeds grow in fields and gardens, without being planted.
• It is necessary that the farmer must remove the weeds so that they do not take up most of the water and fertilisers.
• If there are too many weeds, then the onion plants will not be healthy.

 Thus, the weeds need to be removed because- 

1) Weeds take up most of the water and fertilisers- Correct.

2) If there are too many weeds, then the onion plants will not be healthy- Correct.

3) Weeds bring insects that feed on the onion plant- Incorrect

So, options 1 and 2 both are correct.

Additional Information

Some farming implements used in onion farming:

• Khunti:
  • An iron rod to dig the soil, loosen it and make it soft.
• Kurige:
  • Use to plough the fields
  • Bullocks pull the Kurige which makes the field ready for seed sowing.
• illige:
  • The illige is sharp.
  • It is used to cut the dried leaves from the top of the onions. 

About Gregor Mendel:

• Gregor Mendel, a 19th-century Augustinian monk.
• He was born in a poor farmer’s family in Austria in 1822.
• He is called the father of modern genetics.
• He found that the pea plant has some traits which come in pairs (called an allele).
• Mendel's pea plant experiments conducted between 1856 and 1863 established many of the fundamental laws of heredity.
• It is now referred to as the laws of Mendelian inheritance.

Gregor Johann Mendels Theory:

• Mendel used a number of contrasting visible characters of garden peas- round/wrinkled seeds, tall/short plants, white/violet flowers, and so on.
• He took pea plants with different characteristics- a tall plant and a short plant, produced progeny from them and calculated the percentages of tall or short progeny.

Thus, the correct answer is Gregor Mendal.

Additional Information

Darwin Theory: 

• Darwin gave the theory of natural selection.
• Each species reproduces to maintain its race.
• The species struggle for survival with changing environmental conditions.
• The species adapts with the surroundings survives and rest extinctions. 

MS Swaminathan:

• He was a geneticist.
• He is remembered as he had introduced a high-yielding variety of wheat.
• Book "The Quest for a World Without Hunger" was released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on MS Swaminathan. 

George Mestral:

• In 1948, one day George Mestral came back from a walk with his dog.
• He was amazed to find seeds sticking all over his clothes and on his dog’s fur.
• He wondered what made them stick.
• So he observed these seeds under a microscope.
• He saw that the seeds had many tiny hooks which got stuck to clothes or fur.
• This gave Mestral the idea of making Velcro.
• He made a material with similar tiny hooks that would stick.
• Velcro is used to stick together many things – clothes, shoes, bags, belts and many more. 

Key Points

Concept:

• Carnivorous plants obtain essential nutrients from the heterotrophs.
• These plants trap insects and obtain the nutrients they do not get from the soil.
• They are not called heterotrophs or consumers because they only derive nutrients from insects.
• These plants get energy from the process of photosynthesis.
• Hence they are both producers and carnivores.

Explanation:

Nepenthes is a plant that:

• It can trap and eat frogs, insects and even mice.
• It is found in Australia, Indonesia and Meghalaya in India.
• It has a pitcher-like shape, and a leaf covers the mouth.
• It has a special smell that attracts insects, which get trapped and can't get out.

Thus, the correct answer is Meghalaya.

Concept:

• Humans carry seeds from one place to another, knowingly or unknowingly.
• People bring the seeds of plants that they find beautiful or useful, to grow in the garden.
• Later the seeds of these plants spread to other places.
• Many years later people may not even remember that these plants did not grow there earlier. 

Explanation:

Vegetables and their country of origin: 

Thus, tomatoes are originally from South America.

Concept:

• Nutrition is a process by which an organism consumes and uses food materials. 
• There are various modes of nutrition mainly, Autotrophic, Heterotrophic, Chemoautotrophic, Saprophytic,  etc.
• Parasitism is a type of heterotrophic nutrition.

Explanation:

Cuscuta:

• < />Cuscuta is a parasitic plant.
• Since Cuscuta does not have chlorophyll, it cannot synthesize its own food by photosynthesis.
• It takes readymade food from the plant on which it is climbing.
• The plant on which it climbs is called a host.
• Since it deprives the host of valuable nutrients, it is called a parasite.
• It is yellow and tubular in structure twining around the stem and branches of a tree.
• Other parasitic plants are - Rafflesia, Viscum, Nuytsia floribunda.
• Parasitic plants cause damage to the host plant.

Thus, Cuscuta is a parasite.

Additional Information 

• Holophytic or autotrophic nutrition: In this type of nutrition the organisms prepare their food by themselves. Eg - green plants.
• Saprobiotic nutrition: In this type of nutrition the organism depends on the dead and decaying matter of other organisms. Eg - fungi

In a forest, trees form the uppermost layer, followed by herbs, and the lowest layer of vegetation is made of shrubs.

This layered structure is essential for the overall functioning and health of the forest ecosystem, as each layer contributes to the biodiversity, nutrient cycling, and habitat for various species of plants and animals.

Additional InformationIn a forest, the vegetation is typically organized into distinct layers, each playing a crucial role in the overall ecosystem. The three primary layers are:

Canopy layer:

• This is the uppermost layer, which is composed of tall trees that form a dense cover above the forest.
• The canopy intercepts sunlight, rain, and wind, creating a unique microclimate for the lower layers.
• It is also home to a diverse range of species, such as birds, insects, and arboreal mammals, who find food, shelter, and nesting sites among the branches and leaves.

Understory layer:

• Below the canopy, the understory layer consists of smaller trees, shrubs, and young trees that have not yet reached the canopy.
• This layer has its own microclimate, receiving less sunlight, and often higher humidity levels than the canopy.
• The understory is important for providing habitat to shade-tolerant plant species and animals that prefer lower levels of the forest for their activities.

Forest floor layer:

• The lowest layer of vegetation in a forest is made up of herbaceous plants, grasses, and mosses, which are adapted to the low light conditions.
• These plants form a dense mat of vegetation that helps to prevent soil erosion and retain moisture in the soil.
• The forest floor is also a critical site for decomposition, with fungi, bacteria, and detritivores breaking down dead plant material and recycling nutrients back into the ecosystem.

Hence, the correct answer is option 2 i.e. In it, trees form the upper most layer followed by herbs and the lowest layer of vegetation is made of shrubs.

Characteristics of Weeds:

• Weeds are unwanted, persistent, harmful plants.
• Undesirable weeds are plants that grow alongside the main plants.
• These impede the growth of other crop plants and negatively impact human activities.
• They also affect agricultural production, natural phenomena, and the national economy.
• Xanthium and Parthenium are examples of weeds.

Thus, (A), (B) and (C) are correct.