Question

What is xylem vessels

Answer 1

Xylem, plant vascular tissue that conveys water and dissolved minerals from the roots to the rest of the plant and also provides physical support. Xylem tissue consists of a variety of specialized, water-conducting cells known as tracheary elements. Together with phloem(tissue that conducts sugars from the leaves to the rest of the plant), xylem is found in all vascular plants, including the seedless club mosses, ferns, horsetails, as well as all angiosperms (flowering plants) and gymnosperms (plants with seeds unenclosed in an ovary).



xylem tissueCross section of xylem tissue from an oak tree (Quercus species). The large holes are wide vessel members, which serve as major water-conducting cells for the tree.J.M. Langham

The xylem tracheary elements consist of cells known as tracheidsand vessel members, both of which are typically narrow, hollow, and elongated. Tracheids are less specialized than the vessel members and are the only type of water-conducting cells in most gymnosperms and seedless vascular plants. Water moving from tracheidto tracheid must pass through a thin modified primary cell wall known as the pit membrane, which serves to prevent the passage of damaging air bubbles. Vessel members are the principal water-conducting cells in angiosperms (though most species also have tracheids) and are characterized by areas that lack both primary and secondary cell walls, known as perforations. Water flows relatively unimpeded from vessel to vessel through these perforations, though fractures and disruptions from air bubbles are also more likely. In addition to the tracheary elements, xylem tissue also features fibre cells for support and parenchyma (thin-walled, unspecialized cells) for the storage of various substances.