Means of Transportation In Plants

Plants are very important for our daily needs. Plants give oxygen because of photosynthesis by taking carbon dioxide that we release this is why plants are important for our living process. The plant is the first living organism on the earth. One living organism that is in every part of the earth is a plant. A plant can grow everywhere on earth. There are two types of plants. They are

• Flowering plants
• Non-flowering plants 

Flowering plants: 

Flowering plants have features like plants in which flowers of the tree become fruit and also in that fruit seed is generated. The generated seed becomes a plant when we sow it in the soil. Flowering plants are commonly known as angiosperms. Like, humans, have reproductive systems plants have a reproductive system called angiosperms. Because of this system they can able to generate flowers as fruits that are used to consume humans.

There are many flowering plants on this earth. Some of them are

• Bougainvillea
• Rose
• Adenium
• Adenium
• Angelonia
• Kalanchoe

Some flowering plants have normal names having scientific names are tabled below

Flowering plants	Scientific name of flowering plant
Water Lilies	Nymphaea
Tulips	Tulipa
Lotus	Nelumbo Nucifera Gaertn
Rose	Rosa
Orchid	Orchidaceae

Nonflowering plants

Nonflowering plants are in contrast to flowering plants. Nonflowering plants have features like plants in which there are no flowers for those types of plants and also there are only leaves this type of plant. Plants like grass, herbs, and decorative plants are non-flowering plants. Nonflowering plants don’t have seed in it. Non flowering plants are also known as cryptogams.

There are many nonflowering plants on this earth. some of them are

• Pines
• Horsetails
• Common moss
• Seaweed

Some non-flowering plants have normal names having scientific names are tabled below

Non-flowering plants	Scientific name of non flowering plants
Pines	Pinus roxburghii
Horsetail	Equisetum
Common moss	Bryophyta
Seaweed	Chlorophyta

Transportation in Plants

Plants make their food themselves. How they will make their own food themselves? Plants take carbon dioxide, sunlight, and water used in the process called photosynthesis. In photosynthesis oxygen and some sugars came out as outputs. Oxygen is released into the environment whereas sugars are consumed by the plants to grow themselves. this how plants make food by themselves. Plants are also called autotrophs because they make their own food.

Human transports food from mouth to stomach and from stomach to intestine, finally, it came out as a solid material. Like humans, plants have a systematic transport system through a network of tissues of the plant. We have to know the structure of a plant before going to know how transportation occurs. Plant is the combination of roots, stem and leaves. Nutrients in water are absorbed by the roots of the plant and transports those nutrients to the stem and leaves. Leaves are the main food chefs of the plant. Leaves prepared food through the photosynthesis process. Let us know what is photosynthesis process?

Photosynthesis: Photosynthesis is a plant phenomenon in which plants take nutrients from the roots, carbon dioxide, and sunlight from the leaves to produce oxygen and glucose. Glucose is consumed by the plant itself whereas oxygen is released outside for humans.

Carbon dioxide + Water + Sunlight ⇒ Glucose+ Oxygen

Due to photosynthesis end product glucose need to transport to every part of the plant. How transportation to every part occurs can be known by the concept of vascular tissue. Because vascular tissue is the main tissue used for the transportation of each nutrient as well as the glucose for the transportation in the plant.

Vascular tissue: Vascular tissue is the combination of xylem and phloem. Xylem is one type of tissue in plants where it is present in the entire part of the plant. Phloem is also a one of the types of tissue in plant-like xylem. Phloem is also present thought the plant. Xylem tissue supplies water and minerals from the roots of the plant to the leaves of the plant. Phloem tissue supplies food which is glucose from leaves to another part of the plant-like stem, branches, and roots of the plant. This is how xylem and phloem helps in transportation.

Xylem

Xylem is one of the tissues used for transporting from roots to the leaves through steam. Water that transports from the root is processed by osmosis and then it reaches to xylem tissue. Water that reaches the xylem is transported to leaves and from leaves, it is evaporated by the transpiration method. Xylem process is bottom to up because it takes water, and nutrients in the water from roots to all the parts of a plant.

Phloem

Phloem is one of the tissues used for transporting nutrients, carbohydrates, and sugars from leaves to all the body parts of the plant. Phloem cells are made of living cells. The phloem approach is from top to down approach because this tissue supplies food that is prepared by leaves to all the parts like stem, branches, and roots.

How does water get out from the plants?

Transpiration is the process of exhalation of water from the leaves . During evaporation of water from the leaves, water is get pulled from the roots. This happens due to gravity without using any pipe. Flow of the xylem has one direction which is unidirectional. Like water, phloem transports carbon dioxide and amino acids from leaves to other areas of plants. Phloem is bidirectional tissue because of this property elements like CO₂, amino acids are moved up and down in the stem of the plant. In vascular tissue, the phloem occupies the edge where as the xylem occupies the center. Mechanism of food movement in phloem happened due to pressure.

Means of Transport

To sustain the plant kingdom diffusion is one of the means of transport that is like a natural phenomenon. For all the essential needs of plants, diffusion can transport all the needed material to the plants.

Diffusion

Diffusion is the process that transfers the molecule’s movement from a high concentration place to a low concentration place. In photosynthesis process diffusion takes main role for the process. Plant takes carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide goes to stomata then to the leaves and finally goes into the cells is done by a diffusion process. Types of diffusion: Simple and Facilitated Diffusion

• Simple diffusion-diffusion of ions occurs without the aid of any carrier, movement occurred via a concentration gradient.
• Facilitated diffusion-ions move with the aid of a carrier then that movement of ions is known as facilitated diffusion.

Conceptual Questions

Question 1: What is osmosis. Explain?

Answer: 

Osmosis is also known as diffusion. This Osmosis is useful for plants. Osmosis is a process to stabilize the internal environment of a using water and internal fluids in the plant. It is used by the xylem for the transportation of water from roots to every other part of the plant. Without Osmosis plants cannot survive.

Question 2: Difference between xylem and phloem.

Answer:

Xylem	Phloem
It is located in a leaf at adaxial surface	Phloem is located in a leaf at abaxial surface
Xylem carries water and minerals form roots to every part of the plant.	Phloem carries food of plant which is carbohydrates and some sugars.
It is formed with dead cells which are vessel cells so xylem is not a living tissue.	Phloem is formed with live elements naturally for the food transportation.

Question 3. Difference between transpiration and  guttation.

Answer:

Transpiration	Guttation
Transpiration is a process of evaporating water from the leaves.	Guttation is a process of secretion or coming out the droplets from the pores of the plant.
This process is done in daytime.	It is done during night time only.
Transpiration is controlled method which will done regularly.	Guttation is uncontrolled method.

Question 4: Without diffusion is it possible for xylem to transport water supplements? Explain.

Answer:

Without diffusion, there is no possible transportation of water supplement to the xylem and to the plants as well. Because of diffusion bridge water that taken by root is transported to xylem. After water reaching to xylem only xylem supplies water to all parts of the body of a plant.

Question 5. Name the tissues in plants that help process the supplements to all parts of the tree?

Answer: 

Xylem and phloem are the two tissues that helps in the process of supplying all the supplement to all the parts of the tree. Xylem supplies water and minerals with the help of diffusion from roots to every part of the plant, where as phloem supplies food resources like carbohydrates, sugars prepared by leaves using photosynthesis to all parts of the plant.

Question 6. In a drought area how plants can able to survive? Explain.

Answer: 

Panicle Hydrangea, Cactus, and Aloe vera are some of the plants which able to face drought area conditions. These plants are related to one of the plant genes that stores more water than they can during water content. Transpiration for this plants are very less compared to other plants like rose, lilly etc., So these type of plants use their storage water in summer for survive purpose in drought areas.