Plants follow different pathways in response to environment of phases of life to form different kinds of structures. This ability is called

Question

Accepted Answer

D. 1. **Understand the phenomenon being described**: some plants can modify their form, developing different kinds of structures, in order to adapt and cope with changes in their surrounding environment.
Given this,
$$
	ext{Different environments} ightarrow 	ext{Different structures in the same plant}
$$
is called **plasticity**.

2. **Recognize the two types of plasticity**: this can be **intrinsic plasticity** (arising from within the plant, such as differences between juvenile and mature leaves) or **extrinsic plasticity** (a response to outside environmental factors). In both cases, the plant may show **heterophylly**, seen for example in the leaves of larkspur and buttercup.

3. **Eliminate the other options**: **maturity** refers to the final specialised state a structure reaches; **elasticity** and **flexibility** are physical/mechanical terms unrelated to this biological developmental concept.

Hence, the correct answer is **D. Plasticity**.