Answer:
dormancy during dry times
Step-by-step explanation:
In the real-world, desert plants are commonly seen being dormant for most of the year to conserve and save up energy. Smaller leaves allow the leaves to dry up slower because there is less surface area, so broad leaves don't make sense. Water in deserts is also very far under the soil, and thus very hard to access with shallow root systems. Last, since conditions are so hard and plants struggle to live, it would not make sense for them to wait a long time to reproduce. Given they could easily die, they will eagerly reproduce with other plants too carry out their genes.