EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Xylem transports water, minerals, and nutrients from the soil to all the plant parts. There are two types of “transport” tissues in plants-xylem and phloem. Water and solutes are transported by the xylem from the roots to the leaves, and food is transported from the leaves to the rest of the plant by the phloem.

Detailed explanation-2: -As transpiration occurs, it deepens the meniscus of water in the leaf, creating negative pressure (also called tension or suction). The tension created by transpiration “pulls” water in the plant xylem, drawing the water upward in much the same way that you draw water upward when you suck on a straw.

Detailed explanation-3: -This is called the cohesion–tension theory of sap ascent. The cohesion-tension theory explains how water moves up through the xylem. Inside the leaf at the cellular level, water on the surface of mesophyll cells saturates the cellulose microfibrils of the primary cell wall.

Detailed explanation-4: -The direction of xylem transport is upwards and unidirectional i.e. from roots to other plant parts. The water column moves only upwards because of the two forces, transpirational pull, and positive root pressure.

Detailed explanation-5: -In plants, water and minerals are transported through xylem cells from soil to the leaves. The xylem cells of roots, stems and leaves are interconnected to form a conducting channel that reaches all parts of the plant body. The root cells take ions from the soil.