Final answer:
Plants may experience temporary wilting if exposed to sudden hot, dry air, even if the soil is well-watered. This is because water cannot move through the xylem fast enough to replace the water loss by the leaves.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement given is true. Even if the soil is well-watered, plants may still experience temporary wilting when exposed to sudden hot, dry air. This is because water cannot move through the xylem fast enough to replace the water loss by the leaves. The xylem is the tissue responsible for transporting water and nutrients from the roots to the leaves of a plant.
When the air is hot and dry, transpiration (the process by which water is lost from the leaves) increases. However, water uptake from the roots cannot keep up with the rate of transpiration, leading to temporary wilting. In this situation, the xylem cannot transport water quickly enough to replace the loss.
For example, imagine a plant with well-watered soil exposed to a sudden heatwave. The plant may wilt even though the soil has enough water because the xylem cannot supply water to the leaves quickly enough to compensate for the increased rate of water loss through transpiration. As a result, the leaves may become temporarily wilted until the water uptake and transport catch up with the rate of transpiration.
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