Question

I had the privilege of visiting mt. st. helens in the late 1990s. one of the things i noticed was that very few plants were growing in the blast zone due to the scarcity of certain essential elements. in fact, the few plants growing in the area were members of the plant group called legumes. what property of legumes allows them to grow in this area?

Answer 1

Legumes have the ability to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere. They do this through a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-fixing bacteria called rhizobia. These bacteria live within nodules in their root systems, and produce nitrogen compounds that the legume uses too grow.