Biology · Plant Growth and Development · NEET
They are linked but not the same word. Plasticity is the general ability of a plant to follow different developmental pathways and make different structures based on age or environment. Heterophylly (different leaf shapes on one plant) is the main example NCERT gives to prove plasticity. So heterophylly is an example, and plasticity is the ability.
There are two causes. In cotton, coriander and larkspur the change is due to the phase of life: juvenile (young) leaves have a different shape from mature leaves on the same plant. In buttercup the change is due to the environment: leaves formed in air are different in shape from leaves formed under water. NEET often tests which example is age-driven versus environment-driven.
The buttercup grows partly in water and partly in air. The leaves that develop underwater have a different shape from the leaves that develop in the air above the water. The same genes give different leaf forms because the environment is different. This environment-driven leaf change is heterophyllous development and proves plasticity.
No. NCERT lists cotton, coriander and larkspur (juvenile vs mature leaves) and buttercup (air vs water leaves) as the plasticity examples. Maize is not given as an example. In NEET 2022 the question asked which plant does NOT show plasticity, and the answer was maize.
Juvenile means the young stage of the plant, and mature means the adult stage. In cotton, coriander and larkspur the leaf shape made during the young stage is not the same as the leaf shape made when the plant is older. One plant, two leaf shapes across its life — that is heterophylly due to life phase.
Plants follow different pathways in response to environment or phases of life to form different kinds of structures. This ability is called
Which one of the following plants does not show plasticity?
Heterophyllous development in response to environment is an example of which of the following phenomena?
Try the real previous-year questions from this chapter — each with the answer and a full solution.
Heterophylly means one plant grows more than one type of leaf shape. The word breaks down as hetero (different) plus phylly (leaf). The change can happen because of the plant's age or because of the environment it grows in.
Remember four names: cotton, coriander and larkspur (juvenile leaf shape differs from mature leaf shape) and buttercup (leaves in air differ from leaves in water). These are the exact NCERT examples.
It is the direct proof NCERT uses for plasticity, and NEET has asked about it in 2021, 2022 and 2026. Questions test the examples and the link between heterophylly and plasticity, so a few marks come straight from this one line.
Environment. Buttercup makes one leaf shape under water and another in air, so the trigger is the surroundings, not the plant's age. Cotton, coriander and larkspur change with age (juvenile vs mature).
