Omar Bennett
The vascular system of a plant is composed of vascular tissues that distribute resources throughout the plant. The two types of vascular tissue are xylem and phloem. Xylem is responsible for transporting water and dissolved minerals from the roots to the leaves, while phloem conducts food and organic elements such as sugars and amino acids from the leaves to the rest of the plant. The xylem and phloem work together to provide essential functions, including resource delivery and mechanical support, allowing plants to grow and survive.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of vascular tissues | 2 |
| Types of vascular tissues | Xylem, Phloem |
| Xylem function | Transports water and dissolved minerals from roots to leaves |
| Phloem function | Conducts food, organic elements, and small signaling molecules from leaves to all parts of the plant |
| Xylem composition | Dead, hard-walled hollow cells arranged to form files of tubes |
| Phloem composition | Living cells called sieve-tube members |
| Number of meristem categories | 2 |
| Types of meristem categories | Apical, Lateral |
| Number of organ systems | 2 |
| Types of organ systems | Shoot system, Root system |
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What You'll Learn
Xylem and phloem vascular tissues
The vascular system of a plant is made up of vascular tissues, which distribute resources through the plant. The two primary vascular tissues are xylem and phloem. These tissues are responsible for the transport of water, solutes, and nutrients in the plants.
Xylem is a lignified tissue that transports water and dissolved minerals from the roots to the leaves. It consists of dead, hard-walled, hollow cells arranged to form files of tubes that function in water transport. A tracheid cell wall usually contains the polymer lignin. Xylem also consists of fibre cells and parenchyma tissue. Fibre cells are lignified and provide structural support to the plants, while parenchyma consists of thin-walled cells used for storage.
Phloem is a non-lignified conducting tissue that transports food made in the leaves during photosynthesis to all parts of the plant. It consists of living cells called sieve-tube members. Between the sieve-tube members are sieve plates, which have pores to allow molecules to pass through. The phloem is composed of three types of cells: conducting cells, parenchyma cells, and supportive cells. The conducting cells, also called sieve elements, are composed of columns of sieve tube cells that have perforations in their lateral walls, which help in the conduction of food throughout the plant. The parenchyma consists of unspecialised cells used for storage and two specialised cells: companion cells and albuminous cells.
Xylem and phloem are typically located immediately adjacent to each other in the plant. The combination of one xylem and one phloem strand adjacent to each other is known as a vascular bundle. Several kinds of vascular bundles are recognised, including collateral, bicollateral, concentric, and closed bundles.
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Vascular bundles
The xylem is a lignified tissue that transports water and dissolved minerals from the roots to the leaves. It consists of dead, hard-walled, hollow cells arranged to form tubes. The phloem, on the other hand, is a non-lignified tissue that conducts the products of photosynthesis, including food, from the leaves to all parts of the plant. It consists of living cells called sieve-tube members, which have pores to allow molecules to pass through.
Several types of vascular bundles are recognised, including collateral, bicollateral, concentric, and closed bundles. In the collateral pattern, the phloem lies on one side of the xylem, usually towards the stem exterior. This arrangement is typical of dicots, which are the majority of flowering plants, such as roses, apples, and oaks. If the phloem is on both the outer and inner faces of the xylem, the bundle is bicollateral. A concentric bundle has either xylem entirely surrounded by phloem or phloem entirely surrounded by xylem. Closed bundles lack cambium and are found in monocots, such as grasses, lilies, and palms. They are scattered in two or more rings in the stem.
The position and arrangement of vascular bundles can vary between species and their location in the plant. For example, in leaves, the veins are the vascular bundles, while in roots, vascular tissue is arranged in a central cylinder.
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Plant vascular system functions
Plants can be divided into two main groups: vascular plants and non-vascular plants. The former group has vascular tissues that distribute resources through the plant, allowing them to grow to larger sizes than non-vascular plants. Vascular plants include most land plants (around 300,000 known species) such as clubmosses, horsetails, ferns, gymnosperms (including conifers), and angiosperms (flowering plants).
The vascular system of plants has two primary functions: the delivery of resources (water, essential mineral nutrients, sugars, and amino acids) to the various organs of the plant, and the provision of mechanical support. The vascular system is also important for long-distance communication within the plant.
The vascular system consists of two types of vascular tissue: xylem and phloem. The xylem is a lignified tissue that transports water and dissolved minerals from the roots upwards to the leaves. Xylem cells are dead, hard-walled, hollow cells arranged to form tubes for water transport. A tracheid cell wall usually contains the polymer lignin, which provides rigidity and resistance to high water pressure and mechanical stress.
The phloem is a non-lignified tissue that conducts products of photosynthesis (food) and signalling molecules from the leaves to all parts of the plant. The phloem consists of living cells called sieve-tube members, which have pores to allow molecules to pass through. These cells lack nuclei or ribosomes, but are kept alive by the companion cells next to them.
Xylem and phloem are typically located adjacent to each other in the plant, and the combination of one xylem and one phloem strand is known as a vascular bundle. Several types of vascular bundles are recognised, including collateral, bicollateral, concentric, and closed bundles.
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Vascular plants
The xylem and phloem are closely associated with each other and are typically found adjacent to each other in the plant. This combination of one xylem and one phloem strand forms a vascular bundle. Several types of vascular bundles are recognised, including collateral, bicollateral, concentric (amphicribal or amphivasal), and closed bundles. The arrangement of these bundles varies among plant types, such as monocots (grasses) and dicots (roses, apples, oaks).
The evolution of vascular tissue allowed plants to grow larger than non-vascular plants, which lack these specialised conducting tissues. Vascular plants have a principal generation phase that is diploid, producing spores, while non-vascular plants' principal generation phase is haploid, producing gametes. Sexual reproduction in vascular land plants involves meiosis, providing a direct DNA repair capability.
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Vascular plant structure
Vascular plants, also known as tracheophytes, are plants that possess vascular tissues that distribute resources throughout the plant. The two types of vascular tissue are xylem and phloem. Xylem is a lignified tissue that transports water and dissolved minerals from the roots to the leaves. The xylem consists of dead, hard-walled hollow cells called tracheids or vessels, depending on the type of vascular plant. Tracheids have cell walls that contain the polymer lignin, a hardening substance that reinforces the cellulose cell wall. The xylem forms a network of tubes that facilitates water transport within the plant.
Phloem, on the other hand, is a specialised non-lignified tissue that conducts food, specifically the products of photosynthesis, from the leaves to all parts of the plant. Phloem consists of living cells called sieve-tube members, which are not lignified. Between the sieve-tube members are sieve plates, which have pores that allow molecules to pass through. While sieve-tube members lack nuclei or ribosomes, they are supported by companion cells, which function to keep them alive.
The xylem and phloem are typically located immediately adjacent to each other in the plant, forming a vascular bundle. There are several types of vascular bundles recognised, including the collateral pattern, where the phloem lies on one side of the xylem, usually towards the stem exterior, and the bicollateral pattern, where the phloem surrounds the xylem both on its inner and outer faces. Vascular bundles run longitudinally along the stem, and the combination of these vascular tissues allows plants to evolve to larger sizes than non-vascular plants.
Vascular plants have true roots, leaves, and stems, and their dominant life stage is the sporophyte, which is the diploid, spore-producing phase of the plant. The shoot system of a vascular plant includes all the stems, leaves, and reproductive structures, while the root system includes all of the roots.
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Frequently asked questions
The two main elements of a plant's vascular system are xylem and phloem.
Xylem transports water and dissolved minerals from the roots to the leaves.
Phloem delivers organic elements, such as sugars, amino acids, and small signaling molecules like hormones or mRNA, to the plant body.
