phylloclade of ruscus

• Kingdom-Plantae
• Clade-Tracheophyta
• Class-Magnoliopsida
• Order-Asparagales
• Family- Asparagaceae
• Genus-Ruscus

• Habitat
Ruscus is a genus of flowering plants which is an evergreen, perennial shrub found in southern and south central Europe, southwestern Asia and Northwestern Africa.
▪ Ruscus is a little evergreen shrub which has thick rhizomes and an erect stem bearing spiky cladodes which act as
leaves.
▪ Cladodes are shoot modifications in which the stem becomes flattened and performs the photosynthetic functions of the plant.
▪ Cladodes, like other stem modifications, are mainly present to reduce water loss by transpiration.
▪ This adaptation facilitates ruscus's ability to live in rocky and arid environments.
▪ Shoot modifications like cladodes are a prime illustration of convergent evolution as they are seen in unrelated families of desert angiosperms.
Sources: Science direct :
o Biotechnological production of Ruscogenins in plant cell and organ cultures of Ruscus
aculeatus
-Abbas Khojasteh, Raul Sanchez-Muñoz...
o Britannica
o Picture source- Byju's