Plant Vascular

Tissue
What is a plant vascular tissue?
• Vascular tissue is a complex conducting
tissue, formed of more than one cell type,
found in vascular plants . The primary
components of vascular tissue are the
xylem and phloem. These two tissues
transport fluid and nutrients internally.
There are also two meristems associated
with vascular tissue: the vascular
cambium and the cork cambium . All the
vascular tissues within a particular plant
together constitute the vascular tissue
system of that plant.
• The cells in vascular tissue are typically long and
slender. Since the xylem and phloem function in the
conduction of water, minerals, and nutrients throughout
the plant, it is not surprising that their form should be
similar to pipes. The individual cells of phloem are
connected end-to-end, just as the sections of a pipe
might be. As the plant grows, new vascular tissue
differentiates in the growing tips of the plant. The new
tissue is aligned with existing vascular tissue,
maintaining its connection throughout the plant. The
vascular tissue in plants is arranged in long, discrete
strands called vascular bundles. These bundles include
both xylem and phloem, as well as supporting and
protective cells. In stems and roots, the xylem typically
lies closer to the interior of the stem with phloem towards
the exterior of the stem. In the stems of some Asterales
dicots, there may be phloem located inwardly from the
xylem as well.
• Between the xylem and phloem is a meristem
called the vascular cambium. This tissue
divides off cells that will become additional
xylem and phloem. As long as the vascular
cambium continues to produce new cells, the
plant will continue to grow more. In trees and
other plants that develop wood, the vascular
cambium allows the expansion of vascular
tissue that produces woody growth. Because
this growth ruptures the epidermis of the stem,
woody plants also have a cork cambium that
develops among the phloem. The cork
cambium gives rise to thickened cork cells to
protect the surface of the plant and reduce
water loss. Both the production of wood and
the production of cork are forms of secondary
growth.
Xylem
 What is xylem?
Xylem tissue has two functions: carry
water and dissolved mineral salts from
the roots to the stems and leaves, and
provide mechanical support within the
plant. One type of xylem cell found in
all vascular plants is called a tracheid.
Flowering plants have another xylem
cell called vessel.
• Xylem can be found:
• in vascular bundles, present in non-woody
plants and non-woody parts of woody plants
• in secondary xylem, laid down by a meristem
called the vascular cambium in woody plants
• as part of a stelar arrangement not divided
into bundles, as in many ferns.
 Primary Xylem
• Primary xylem is formed during
primary growth from procambium.
It includes protoxylem and
metaxylem. Metaxylem develops
after the protoxylem but before
secondary xylem. Metaxylem has
wider vessels and tracheids than
protoxylem.
 Secondary Xylem
• Secondary xylem is formed during secondary growth from
vascular cambium. Although secondary xylem is also found in
members of the gymnosperm groups Gnetophyta and
Ginkgophyta and to a lesser extent in members of the
Cycadophyta, the two main groups in which secondary xylem
can be found are:
1. Conifers- there are approximately 600 known species of
conifers. All species have secondary xylem, which is
relatively uniform in structure throughout this group. Many
conifers become tall trees: the secondary xylem of such trees
is used and marketed as softwood.
2. Angiosperms- there are approximately 250,000 known species
of angiosperms. Within this group secondary xylem is rare in
the monocots. Many non-monocot angiosperms become
trees, and the secondary xylem of these is used and marketed
as hardwood.
Phloem
 What is phloem?
• The phloem tissue conducts
manufactured food(sugars and amino
acids) from the green parts of the plants ,
especially the leaves, to the other parts of
the plant. Phloem also conducts sugars
from sites of storage to sites where they
are needed. It consists mainly of sieve
tubes and companion cells that aid the
transport of manufactured food. The
process of transporting manufactured
food by the phloem tissue is called
translocation.
• Phloem tissue consists of conducting
cells, generally called sieve elements,
parenchyma cells, including both
specialized companion cells or
albuminous cells and unspecialized
cells and supportive cells, such as
fibres and sclereids.
• Unlike xylem (which is composed
primarily of dead cells), the phloem is
composed of still-living cells that
transport sap. The sap is a water-based
solution, but rich in sugars made by
photosynthesis. These sugars are
transported to non-photosynthetic
parts of the plant, such as the roots, or
into storage structures, such as tubers
or bulbs.
• During the plant's growth period,
usually during the spring, storage
organs such as the roots are sugar
sources, and the plant's many growing
areas are sugar sinks. The movement
in phloem is multidirectional, whereas,
in xylem cells, it is unidirectional.
Stem
 What is stem?
• The stem of plants houses the vascular
tissue, which transports substances between
the roots and the leaves. In flexible and
green plants called herbaceous plants, the
stem contains bundles of xylem and phloem
called vascular bundles. In monocot stems,
the vascular bundles are scattered in the
ground tissue. In dicot stems, however, the
vascular bundles are arranged in a ring.
• Trees and shrubs, such as narra and
roses, have woody stems. A young woody
stem has a central core of pith and a ring
of vascular bundles, which fuse into solid
cylinders as the stem matures. Layers of
xylem form the innermost cylinder that
constitutes the components of wood. A
cylinder of phloem lies outside the
cylinder of xylem. The wood in the center
of a mature stem or tree trunk is called
heartwood. The xylem in heartwood,
which can no longer conduct water,
provides support. Sapwood, which lies
outside the heartwood, contains vessel
cells that can conduct water.