They cannot conserve water by using an alternate
photosynthetic pathway to store CO2 (Rundel et al. 1979,
James 1981) because it would provide no water
conservation advantage due to their lack of leaf stomata.
Their developmental structure does not permit the loss of
leaves because no buds occur at the base of each leaf, and
one must wonder if such a small stem could store sufficient energy to support the growth of new leaves prior to any
new input from photosynthesis