section

21.2 The Vascular System

Teacher Notes and Answers

SECTION 2
Instant Replay
1. cohesion and adhesion
2. A sugar source has a high concentration of
sugars, such as in leaves or storage roots. A
sugar sink uses or stores the sugar, such as in
growing roots and stems.

Vocabulary Check
1. pressure-flow model
2. transpiration
3. cohesion-tension theory

The Big Picture

4. Hydrogen bonds form between water
molecules, creating cohesion forces. Hydrogen
bonds also form between water molecules and
other substances, creating adhesion forces.
5. Phloem transports nutrients through a plant,
and nutrients need to be able to reach all plant
parts.

Interactive Reader 1
 section

21.2 The Vascular System

Key Concept  The vascular system allows for the transport of water,
minerals, and sugars.

Water and dissolved minerals move through xylem.

Your heart pumps blood through your body. But a tree has no heart to
act as a pump. Water and dissolved minerals move up from the roots to
the rest of the plant through xylem, a type of vascular tissue. Xylem is
called a complex tissue because it contains other cells in addition to
parenchyma, collenchyma, and sclerenchyma cells.

Tracheids and Vessel Elements

A tracheid (TRAY-kee-ihd) is one type of specialized cell in xylem. These
cells are long and narrow. Water flows from one cell to another through
openings in the cell walls. Some vascular plants have another type of cell
called a vessel element. These are shorter and wider than tracheids. Both
cell types must mature and die before water can move through them.
When a vessel element dies, the cell wall at either end breaks apart. The
cells then connect end to end and form long tubes.

How Water Moves In a Plant VOCABULARY

Cohesion-tension theory  The cohesion-tension theory states that the The term cohesion comes
physical properties of water allow water to rise through a plant. Water from the Latin prefix co-,
which means “together,”
molecules have a strong attraction for one another and for other sur- and the term haerere,
faces. Water molecules that are next to each other form hydrogen bonds, which means “to cling.”
and this creates a force called cohesion. Hydrogen bonds between a
water molecule and another substance, such as the wall of xylem tissue,
create a force called adhesion. Cohesion and adhesion create tension that
moves water up through xylem.
Capillary action  The tendency of water to move upward in a hollow
tube is called capillary action. Capillary action is possible because of the
tension created by cohesion and adhesion. But capillary action cannot
lift water to the top branches by itself. Transpiration is the loss of water
vapor, or evaporation, from leaves. The outward flow of water creates a
vacuum* in the leaf xylem that pulls water upward.
Name the two forces that create the tension that moves water
up through xylem.

* Academic Vocabulary
vacuum  an empty space

2 McDougal Littell Biology

Phloem carries sugar from photosynthesis
throughout the plant.
Phloem tissue is a living, complex tissue made of cells called sieve ele-
ments. Phloem fluids, called sap, flow through holes at the ends of the
cells. The products of photosynthesis move from the leaves to the stems
and roots. Minerals traveling up through the xylem can also move into
the phloem.
Sources and sinks  Phloem sap can move in any direction. The
pressure-flow model explains how sap moves through a plant from a
sugar source to a sugar sink. A source is any part of a plant that has a
high concentration of sugars. This is usually the leaves, but can also be
the roots. A sink is the plant part that uses or stores the sugar, such as
growing shoots and stems, fruit, or storage roots.

phloem xylem

sugars

1 Sugars move from their

source, such as photo-
synthesizing leaves,
into the phloem. 2 Water moves from the
xylem into the phloem
by osmosis, due to the
higher concentration of
sugars in the phloem.
The water flow helps
move sugars through
water
the phloem.

3 The sugars move into

the sink, such as a
root or fruit, where
they are stored.

Loading the source  At a source, sugar moves into the phloem until the
sugar reaches a high concentration. That means that at a source, there
is a low concentration of water relative to sugars. To understand this,
imagine that you have put a half cup of sugar into one cup of iced tea
instead of just a spoonful. In the plant, water will then flow into the
phloem by osmosis to reduce the high concentration of sugars.

Interactive Reader 3
 Unloading into the sink  The loading of sugars and the flow of water
into the source creates high pressure. As sugar is unloaded into the sink,
the concentration of sugar in the sink is lessened and the pressure
decreases. This difference in pressure keeps the sugary sap flowing in
the direction of the sink.
Explain the difference between a sugar source and a sugar sink
in a plant and give one example of each.

21.2 Vocabulary Check Mark It Up

Go back and
cohesion-tension theory
highlight each sentence
transpiration
that has a vocabulary
pressure-flow model
word in bold.

Choose the correct term from the list for each description.
1. explains how sap moves through a plant
2. creates upward force in a plant through evaporation
3. helps explain how water moves through xylem

21.2 The Big Picture

4. Describe the physical properties of water that support the cohesion-
tension theory.

5. Why is it important that phloem sap be able to move in any direction

through a plant?

4 McDougal Littell Biology