Plants with breathing roots are characteristic features of vegetation in

Step 1: Analyze the question The question asks where plants with breathing roots (pneumatophores) are typically found.

Step 2: Explain the concept Breathing roots, called pneumatophores, are specialized roots that grow upward out of the soil or water. They have small pores (lenticels) that take in oxygen from the air.

They are needed where the soil is waterlogged, muddy, and has very little oxygen. Normal underground roots would not get enough air to respire.

Step 3: Evaluate each option

• A. Tropical grassland: The soil is well drained, so roots can get oxygen normally. Breathing roots are not needed.
• B. Temperate grassland: The soil is also well aerated, so breathing roots are not needed.
• C. Saltwater swamp: The soil is waterlogged, salty, and oxygen-poor. Mangrove plants such as Rhizophora and Avicennia grow here and have pneumatophores. In Nigeria, you can see mangroves in the Niger Delta and along the coast near Lagos.
• D. Tropical rain forest: The soil is generally well drained. Plants here have buttress roots, stilt roots, and tall trunks, not breathing roots.

Step 4: Answer The correct answer is C. saltwater swamp.

Tip: Link "breathing roots" with "mangrove" and "swamp." Also remember that buttress roots belong to the rain forest, because buttress roots give support while breathing roots give oxygen.