Transportation in Plants

Table of Contents

• Xylem
• Phloem
• Summary
• What’s Next?

In the previous segment, we learnt about Excretion in animals. In this segment, we will learn about transportation in plants.

What is Xylem?

Xylem is the plant tissue that makes sure that the water is transported vertically upwards from the roots to the leaves. Two phenomena are responsible for the movement of water: root pressure and transpirational pull.

Xylem

Root pressure

• The root cells absorb the water and the water moves upwards against the gravity due to difference in potential.
• The water moves from higher water potential to the lower water potential.
• The phenomenon in which the water rises in the xylem due to the osmotic pressure is called root pressure.

Transpirational pull

• Transpiration is the process in which the plants remove excess water through stomata.
• When the water is lost from the stomata it creates negative pressure on the water molecules present in the xylem. As a result due to the suction force, they move upwards.

What is Phloem?