Amazing Plants

Ex. 4. Look through the text and find out the part of speech of the underlined words

Ex. 5. Study the facts about amazing plants

* There is forest in Colorado, USA, that covers 0.4 km² and in total weighs over 6,000 tonnes. Nothing strange about that, but for the fact that all the trees come from a single root. Talking of roots – the longest tree roots are those of the South African wild fig tree which go down over 120 metres into the ground.

* The Giant water lily from the Amazon is the world’s largest water plant. Its leaves can grow up to 2 metres and they are strong enough to take the weight of a child.

* The longest carrot recorded in 1966 was 5.14 metres long!

*Bamboo is a type of grass and can grow nearly 1 metre per day! In some countries, bamboo was used a form of torture. The prisoner was tied flat to the ground and the bamboo eventually grew through his body while he was still alive.

* The largest flower on Earth comes from a tropical forest. It’s the Rafflesia arnoldi and it grows up to one metre across. This parasitic plant is also one of the worst-smelling flowers on Earth.

* The rare Puya Raimondi from the Andes doesn’t flower until it is about 150 years old. After this the plant dies.

*The smellest flower on Earth is the Amorphophallus titanium. popularly known as the corpse flower. It blooms only a few times in its 40-year life span, but when it does, it smells of rotten eggs, a dead animal – and worse. This smelly plant is taller than a man and can be found in Indonesia – and in some botanical gardens.

* The first plant to flower in the zero gravity of space is called Arabidopsis. It was grown on board Russia’s Salute – 7 space station in 1982.

*The Cardon cactus is the world’s largest cactus. It can grow up to 21 metres tall.

*In 1986, a Dutch gardener grew a sunflower with a total height of 7.76 metres.

*The largest forest in the world is the Russian taiga. It covers a total of 1.1 billion hectars.

*It is believed that the most photographed tree is the famous baobab. To explain its monstrous appearance, African people say that devil planted this tree upside down.

*Many jungle trees have flowers that sprout straight out of their trunks.

*The world’s most massive living tree is General Sherman, the giant sequoia growing in the Sequoia National Park, California, USA. It stands 83.82 metres tall.

* Tacca chantrieri: The Black Bat Flower. This exceptionally rare flower is quite amazing. Its beautiful blooms are over 12" in diameter, and each bloom has characteristic "whiskers" that will grow to over 2 feet in length. Its color is so dark purple that it has been called black. The bat flower is native to the tropical forests in the Yunnan Province of China, where it can grow to over 36" in height. It is possible to cultivate this rare plant in your own home. It grows best in well-drained soil in high-humidity areas.

Ex. 6. Write out the words that can help you describe a plant.

Ex. 7. Fill in the blanks with the proper words given before the text.

accumulate

annuals

bloom

blossoms

critical

eye-catching

heavy

leaves

moisture

seed

species

unnoticed

Many plants produce highly visible flowers that have a distinctive siz; colour, or fragrance. Almost everyone is familiar with beautiful flowers such as the (1) _ of roses, orchids, and tulips. But many plants – including oaks, beeches, maples, and grasses – have small, green or gray flowers tha: typically go (2)___

Whether (3) ___or inconspicuous, all flowers play an important role in our life.

The life cycle of a flowering plant begins when the (4) _ germinates. It progresses through the growth of roots, stems, and leaves; formation of flower buds; pollination and fertilization; and seed and fruit development. The life cycle ends with old age, and death. Depending on the (5)___, the life cycle of a plant may last one, two, or many years. Plants called (6) ___carry out their life cycle within one year. Biennial plants live for two years: the first year they produce (7)___, and in the second year they produce flowers and fruits and then die. Perennial plants live for more than one year. Some perennials (8)___ every year, while others, like agave, live for years without flowering and then in a few weeks produce thousands of flowers, fruits, and seeds before dying.

A number of factors influence the timing of flowering. The age of the plant is (9)___because most plants must be at least one or two weeks old before they bloom; presumably they need this time to (10)__ the energy reserves required for flowering. The number of hours of darkness is another l: - that influences flowering. Many species bloom only when the night is just the right length. Poinsettias, for example, flower in winter when the nights are long, while spinach blooms when the nights are short — late spring through late summer. Temperature, light intensity, and (11)___ also affect the time of flowering. In the desert, for example, (12)___rains that follow a long dry period often trigger flowers to bloom.