Part of the woody conductive tissue of higher plants; see there.
Designation for the tissue located in the cambium (growth layer beneath the bark) in higher plants. This facilitates the transport of water and the dissolved nutrients from the roots to the leaves and shoot tips. In a grapevine, this takes only a few minutes, while in trees it takes correspondingly longer (up to hours).
The transport occurs through two complementary processes. Water is absorbed in the roots through osmosis. The evaporation of water from the leaves creates a transpirational pull (negative pressure) that draws water up from the roots. There are two completely separate transport pathways.
The xylem (wood part, xýlon = wood) consists of wide and thick-walled tubes through which the water absorbed by the root hairs, along with the dissolved inorganic minerals, flows upward due to osmotic pressure. Parts of this form the...
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Roman Horvath MW
Domäne Wachau (Wachau)