Plant, structure and function

2. Plant Structures and Functions
PARTS OF THE PLANT

3. Plant Structures and Functions
I picked a garden plant. I placed the garden template in a plastic airless bag. After a
week the satire and cut through the middle of its stem. I observe with the magnifying
glass that it has several tubes. These tubes are very thin and sticky to each other.
In the center there is a thicker tubite and it seems like an elongated hollow from the
part of the root to the twigs of this little plant.
Internal structures of the plant: I placed the garden template in a plastic airless
bag

4. Explanation with my own words about internnal structure of the stem.
Small tubes inside the stem
The structure of these tubesallowsthe materialstobe absorbedandtravel from the root through
the stem to the leaves. This trip in the xylema occurs in a single direction but in the phloem it is
bidirectional.Bringingthe sugarstothe plantisnecessarysinceitfeedsonglucose.Inthistransport
the plant needs water so that this journey of substances occurs inside the plant. The plant also
through perspiration loses water. But water is also recycled by xylema. In the process of
translocation, when the phloem is loaded with sucrose, water flows into the phloem through
osmosis.Whenthe phloemisthe sugar sink,discharge occurs, whichmeansthat the sugar leaves,
the water also flows out.
I observe with the magnifying glass that it has several tubes. These tubes are very
thin and sticky to each other. In the center there is a thicker tubite and it seems like
an elongated hollow from the part of the root to the twigs of this little plant.
TRASLOCATION
I researched about the process of translocation in a plant. But I found it interesting
to know that it is xylem, phloem in the plant since they are the tubes where the
transport of material in the plant takes place.
What is xylem?
The xylem is a tube and transport system, that helps water and dissolved substances
go to different plant parts. The dissolved substances are minerals from the soil and
food previously stored in the stem and roots. The tubes are connected end to end.
Xylem transport is said to be unidirectional, which means transport occurs in a single
direction. If you cut the lower end of a plant stem and place it in a water-and-dye

5. solution for a few minutes or hours, the stem would absorb the solution and
somehow retain the dye. If you examine the stem under a microscope, you would
see that the dye is located in the xylem cells. Xylem cells are called vessel elements,
tracheids and parenchymal cells. Every year, a tree gains new xylem because the
old xylem dies. When you see the cut trunk of a tree, old xylem tubes appear like
concentric rings.
(http://sciencewithme.com/learn-about-transport-in-plants/)
The phloem is another transport system in plants that carries food or sucrose, a type
of sugar, from the leaves to other plant parts. Sucrose is actually an end-product of
photosynthesis. Up to 30% of phloem sap is made up of sucrose. Phloem transport
is bidirectional, which means that transport occurs in two directions. In flower-bearing
plants or “angiosperms”, the special cells in phloem are called sieve-tube members.
Phloem is always alive, which is why it does not form rings like those of xylem.
Translocation is basically, phloem sap moves from a sugar source (leaves) to a
sugar sink (like roots). The phloem loading and unloading
process is called “translocation”. During translocation,
when phloem is loaded with sucrose, water flows into
phloem through osmosis. When the phloem sap reaches
the sugar sink, unloading occurs, which means that as
sugar goes out, water also flows out. Water is then recycled
through xylem transport.