The research questions of the thesis were if, how and to what extent desiccation tolerance is represented on a morpho-anatomical level in vascular plants. A comparative study showed that a universal morpho-anatomical syndrome within desiccation-tolerant vascular plants does not exist. However, some traits seem to be of adaptive value: a parallel leaf nervature, leaf involution respective rolling and stabilizing tissues. Additionally, ecological studies were conducted. The desiccation-tolerant species Afrotrilepis pilosa was chosen to test the desiccation tolerance productivity trade-off hypothesis.
