Practice question · True or false
Lignin is what allowed plants to grow tall on land.
Hints
- Water provides buoyancy that land does not.
- Something rigid was needed to hold a stem up against gravity.
Show the answer
True
Why
True, lignin stiffens cell walls and provides the compressive strength to stand against gravity. Without buoyancy, height required a structural polymer, and lignin is also why wood resists decay so well.
Practise The Colonisation of Land
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