Name: Transport of Water in Plants
Uploaded: 2019-07-19
Duration: 4 min 42 s
Description: Plants need water. The water transport system in plants is like a canal system. Explore this transport system from the root hair to the various parts of the...

Question

Explain in detail the mechanism of water movement in the leaves with the help of a neat and labelled diagram.

Accepted Answer

Water molecules have a strong mutual attraction that makes them to tend to stick to each other, that is called Cohesion. A high cohesion of water molecules depict that a relatively large tension is required to break the water column. Water molecules also tend to stick to the walls of the water conducting tissues and that is called adhesion.

Due to strong cohesive and adhesive forces, there is a continuity of water column from roots to leaves. Water is lost from the mesophyll cells to the inter-cellular spaces as a result of transpiration. This leads to a negative water potential and exerts an upward pull over the water column. Large number of leaves in the plant with many transpiring mesophyll cells withdraw water from water conducting tissues.

Thus, these forces help in the movement of water molecules from the roots to the leaves and maintain the water column.

Explain in detail the mechanism of water movement in the leaves with the help of a neat and labelled diagram.

Important Questions on Transport in Plants

Learn and Prepare for any exam you want !