Biology Department  This portion of the greenhouse has a
somewhat warmer temperature and is more sunny than the other
portions of the museum greenhouse.  Xeric (dry) Environments.
These are places where water is scarce. This includes not only
deserts, but saline habitats where the high salt content of
soils creates water stress, or habitats where the water may be
frozen most of the year. Xeric environments may be very
localized, such as in rock outcrops at high elevation where the
sunlight is intense and water is scanty during the summer.
Annual plants growing in xeric environments can avoid drought by
completing their life cycles during the brief season when water
may be available and then surviving the rest of the year as
seeds. Perennial plants which can not avoid the drought in this
way, they have evolved a variety of adaptations which allow them
to withstand water scarcity. Such plants are known as
xerophytes. The following is a partial list of the structural
adaptations (modifications that increase fitn