Is there any relation (chemically) with the bioactive-constituents present in that particular plant, irrespective of their water loss etc.?
I think that depositions (cutin , suberin, waxes, silica) on the secondary wall (plant cell wall) make some plants hydrophobic and also prevent the wetting of leaves.
Sudheer--I'll add just a bit. Plants can be covered with microbes that are trying to enter. A waxy surface is another barrier that limits moisture on the surface--turning it into an inhospitable desert to most microbes that cannot degrade the waxes. Some microbes (pathogens or endophytes) find a way into the plant by colonizing plant meristems where waxes have not yet been deposited or they enter stomata. Several microbes (fungi and bacteria) use meristems or stomates to enter plants. And as Drs. Kumar, Paiva and Pandya have indicated--wax keeps moisture in. Without a barrier to water loss on above ground parts--vascular plants would only be able to grow in areas where moisture is abundant. Mosses for example lack a waxy cuticle--and they frequently dry out--or grow only in very moist places. Jim White, Rutgers University
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