why don't the leaves of these plants rot in water
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You may be assuming that contact with water is what is required for rot, and that no other factors apply. Actually, the plant rot you’re likely envisioning happens to dead plant material and also requires moisture and oxygen, and is driven by fungal growth.
Decomposition under the water is a different process and can take longer. You also have more consumption components (in the case of wood or soft tissues) in the breakdown than you may have on land. However, in cold water with little lignin-attacking flora some logs might last indefinitely submerged and wind up passing into the fossil record (as petrified wood).
Your living lotus leaf is both adapted for water and has its cellular functions to keep it from decomposing.
Decomposition under the water is a different process and can take longer. You also have more consumption components (in the case of wood or soft tissues) in the breakdown than you may have on land. However, in cold water with little lignin-attacking flora some logs might last indefinitely submerged and wind up passing into the fossil record (as petrified wood).
Your living lotus leaf is both adapted for water and has its cellular functions to keep it from decomposing.
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