How does the cork act as a protective tissue?
Answers
Answer:
The cork cells are dead and compactly packed with no intercellular space. Their cell walls are coated with a waxy substance, suberin, which do not allow water and gases to pass through. Therefore, it protects the plant against mechanical injury and also prevents the loss of water by evaporation.
Basically, the cork of a plant is a group of dead cells held closely packed to each other. These dead packed cells together forms a hard tissue on the outer surface of a plant. This hard tissue formed by these dead cells protects the plant from any outside environmental wrecks.
These cork cells also possess a gel type substance, covering their surface, called Suberin. Suberin helps a plant to prevent the excess loss of water and air in rough days of summers.
So, this is how the cork act as a protective tissue for plants.