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  4. The prickly pear plant, which is botanically named as Opuntia is an excellent example of

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Q. The prickly pear plant, which is botanically named as Opuntia is an excellent example of

AMUAMU 2000

Solution:

In Opuntia (prickly pear), stem is modified into green, photosynthetic, often succulent stem of indefinite growth. Each segment or phylloclade is a branch that arises in axil of a caducous leaf and possesses raised area or areoles representing nodes.
Phyllodes are flattened petiole and rachis, which have taken over the function of lamina as the latter is reduced, eg. Acacia, Parkinsonia aculeata.
Cladode is a stem modification. They are green photosynthetic stems of limited growth with leaves reduced to scale or modified into spines, eg, Ruscus, Asparagus. Cladode of Ruscus are leaf like borne in the axils of scale leaves having floral bud and scale leaf in the middle. In Asparagus, the cladode develops in cluster.