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The basic function of the xylem is to transport water upward from the roots to parts of the plants such as stems and leaves, but it also transports nutrients. [1] [2] The word xylem is derived from the Ancient Greek word, ξύλον (xylon), meaning "wood"; the best-known xylem tissue is wood, though it is found throughout a plant. [3]
The xylem is oriented toward the adaxial surface of the leaf (usually the upper side), and phloem is oriented toward the abaxial surface of the leaf. This is why aphids are typically found on the undersides of the leaves rather than on the top, since the phloem transports sugars manufactured by the plant and they are closer to the lower surface.
The xylem typically lies towards the axis with phloem positioned away from the axis . In a stem or root this means that the xylem is closer to the centre of the stem or root while the phloem is closer to the exterior. In a leaf, the adaxial surface of the leaf will usually be the upper side, with the abaxial surface the lower side.
It serves several critical functions, including structural support, as the primary vein helps the leaf maintain its shape and structure; food and water transportation, as it contains xylem and phloem tissues that transport water, minerals, and nutrients to and from the leaf; [2] and connection to the stem, as it links the leaf to its vascular ...
The xylem consists of vessels in flowering plants and of tracheids in other vascular plants. Xylem cells are 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. The phloem, on the other hand, consists of living cells called sieve-tube members ...
Stems have several main functions: [3] Support for and the elevation of leaves, flowers, and fruits. The stems keep the leaves in the light and provide a place for the plant to keep its flowers and fruits. Transport of fluids between the roots and the shoots in the xylem and phloem. Storage of nutrients. Production of new living tissue.
The presence of vessels in xylem has been considered to be one of the key innovations that led to the success of the flowering plants. It was once thought that vessel elements were an evolutionary innovation of flowering plants, but their absence from some basal angiosperms and their presence in some members of the Gnetales suggest that this hypothesis must be re-examined; vessel elements in ...
A leaf (pl.: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, [1] usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis.Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", [2] [3] while the leaves, stem, flower, and fruit collectively form the shoot system. [4]