Explain excretion in plants with full details?

Excretion in plants means the removal or storage of waste products formed during metabolism such as carbon dioxide, oxygen, and resins.

Plants do not have kidneys or lungs; they use diffusion, storage, and shedding to handle wastes.

In plants, metabolic activities like respiration, photosynthesis, and protein breakdown produce unwanted substances. Because plants stay fixed, they manage wastes in slow, harmless ways.

Ways plants remove or manage wastes

• Diffusion through stomata and lenticels: Oxygen from photosynthesis and carbon dioxide from respiration move out by simple diffusion.
• Storage in vacuoles: Large central vacuoles store organic acids and salts that might be toxic if free in cytoplasm.
• Deposition in dead tissues: Substances like tannins, resins, and gums collect in old xylem or bark, which later dies.
• Leaf fall and bark shedding: Plants discard wastes when old leaves or bark drop off.
• Exudation and secretion: Latex in rubber trees, resin in pines, and gum in acacia are examples of excreted products.

Examples of plant wastes and their handling