Vascular tissue in plants, which consists of xylem and phloem, is essential for transporting water, minerals, and photosynthetic products throughout the plant. This tissue is organized differently in monocots and dicots, influencing their growth and structure, with dicots having more organized vascular bundles. Functions of vascular tissue include maintaining water and sugar balance, facilitating photosynthesis, and enabling agricultural practices like girdling to optimize fruit size.

1. ASSIGNMENT
ROLE OF VASCULAR TISSUES IN PLANTS
Vascular Tissue Definition:
Vascular tissue is an arrangement of multiple
cell types in vascular plants which allows for the
transport of water, minerals, and products of
photosynthesis to be transported throughout
the plant. Non-vascular plants, such as some
algae and moss, do not have vascular tissue and
therefore cannot easily transport water and
nutrients. Vascular plants use their vascular
tissue to transport water and nutrients to great
heights, able to feed the tops of trees hundreds
of feet high.
Types of Vascular Tissue:
1. Xylem
2. Phloem
Structure of Vascular Tissue:
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2. In different species of plants, vascular tissue is
arranged differently. Typically, the cells are long,
narrow, and tubular. The vascular tissue is also
often arranged into bundles within the stem or
leaf. Below is a comparison of the vascular
tissue found in monocot and dicot plants.
The vascular bundles in dicots are much larger
and more consistently arranged. Monocot
species, on the other hand, spread the xylem
and phloem of the vascular tissue around
throughout the stem. These two methods
reflect the structure of the plants themselves.
Monocots tend to be plants like grasses, which
have veins and leaves which run in parallel. In
dicots, such as many flowering trees and
fruiting plants, the leaves and veins in the
leaves branch off in various patterns. This
organization favors a vascular tissue which is

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more organized, and can branch as the plant
grows.
In woody dicots, the vascular tissue is even more organized,
with a vascular cambium layer producing xylem on the inside
and phloem on the outside. These layers are produced
seasonally, which give woody plants their characteristic “rings”.
By adding to the vascular tissue every season, these plants can
handle an increase in growth and become very large. Some
monocots such as palms have adopted a secondary growth

4. technique while maintaining a scattered arrangement of
vascular tissue.
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Functions of Vascular Tissue:
Vascular tissue functions mainly in maintaining the water
balance and sugar balance of a plant. Not only does the plant’s
cells need water to complete basic biological functions, they
also need the minerals and nutrients found in the soil to
complete their work. Most plants have small pores in the leaves
called stoma, which allow water to evaporate and gases to
exchange. To get more water and nutrients into the cells of
leaves, these small pores open.
As the water evaporates, the forces of adhesion and cohesion
pull the water up the tubes of the xylem. As water is absorbed
through the roots, this also creates a pressure from the bottom
to force the water upward. The tubes of the xylem are narrow
to support this action, but there are many of them bundled
together. The xylem portion of the vascular tissue can be seen
below, on the left.
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5. As the water moves up and into the leaves, some of it is needed
to dissolve the sugars created by photosynthesis and carry them
back down the plant. Remember that photosynthesis creates
glucose, which the plant will use as energy. The plant combines
glucose molecules to create sucrose, a temporary storage sugar.
The root cells, and other cells in the stems and leaves, do not
create their own glucose and rely on the plant to provide them
energy. The phloem cells work to transport this created energy
all throughout the plant from source cells, like leaves, to sink
cells, such as those in the roots. The vascular tissue is also
responsible for controlling the flow of nutrients when the plant
is creating flowers and fruits, which drastically affects the
process.
Farmers have learned to manipulate the vascular system of
plants in various ways to modify their crops in various ways. G
instance, by damaging the vascular tissue below a fruit on a
branch, the sugars will be translocated to the fruit. While the
roots may suffer, the fruit will become much larger as a result.

6. This is called girdling, and is one of many techniques used to
alter the flow of nutrients within a plant by modifying the
vascular tissue
Javeria sarwar
Zoologist
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