xylem
Sign in to savethumb|323x323px|Xylem (blue) transports water and minerals from the roots upwards.|alt=
AI overview
Xylem is a tissue in plants that carries water and minerals from the roots up through the rest of the plant. It matters because this transport system is essential for plants to absorb nutrients from the soil and distribute water throughout their structure to support growth and survival.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
15 sectionsContents
- Structure
- Primary and secondary xylem
- Main function – upwards water transport
- Cohesion-tension theory
- Measurement of pressure
- Evolution
- {{anc|Proto}}Protoxylem and metaxylem
- Patterns of protoxylem and metaxylem
- History
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Citations
- General references
- External links
thumb|323x323px|Xylem (blue) transports water and minerals from the roots upwards.|alt=
Xylem is one of the two types of transport tissue in vascular plants, the other being phloem; both of these are part of the vascular bundle. The basic function of the xylem is to transport water upward from the roots to parts of the plants such as stems and leaves, but it also transports nutrients. The word xylem is derived from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "wood"; the best-known xylem tissue is wood, though it is found throughout a plant. The term was introduced by Carl Nägeli in 1858.