Transport into the roots and
stem
Syllabus
• Explain how water is absorbed by root hair cells
• Describe the role of the xylem in transporting water and mineral salts
from the roots to other parts of the plant.
Important points
• Substances such as water,
glucose and amino acids need
to be transported around a
plant.
• Plants have special vascular
tissue to allow them to do this.
• Water travels through the Xylem
while glucose and amino acids
travel through the phloem
Important points
• Water enters the
roots and travels
to the leaves
• Glucose and
amino acids travel
to all parts of the
plant, depending
on the type of
plant.
• Xylem and phloem
are found in
vascular bundles
Transport of water into the roots
• The regions behind the growing tips of roots are
covered by thousands of tiny root hairs.
• These cells are the main areas of water
absorption for a plant.
• Each hair is a single specialized cell of the root
epidermis
• The water in the soil is of a weaker solution than
that of the root hair.
• Therefore water enters the roots by osmosis.
• This in turn makes the solution in the cell weaker
and water can then move into the next cell by
osmosis.
• This continues until the water moves into the
xylem.
• Pressure difference caused by water loss in the
leaf then pulls the water up to the leaf.
In summary