PET 2026 · Science

Plant support and transport: cells to groups

Compare simple and vascular plant tissues and see how mosses differ

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MINDMAPS FOR UPSCPET 2026 · VISUAL REVISION

Plant support and transport: cells to groups

Compare simple and vascular plant tissues and see how mosses differ

Comparison
Plant tissues and plant groups

Living simple tissues

  • Parenchyma: living thin-walled cells for storage, photosynthesis (chlorenchyma), buoyancy.
  • Collenchyma: living cells with unevenly thickened corners in leaf stalks and young stems.
  • Collenchyma provides flexible mechanical support, allowing organs to bend without breaking.

Sclerenchyma: rigid mechanical strength

  • Usually dead at maturity, with thick, lignified cell walls.
  • Occurs as elongated fibres (jute, hemp) and gritty stone cells (sclereids).
  • Gives hardness and stiffness to nutshells, coconut husks and seed coats.

Vascular tissues: xylem and phloem

  • Xylem (tracheids, vessels) conducts water and dissolved minerals upward from roots.
  • Phloem transports sugars from source tissues to growing or storage tissues.
  • Together they form vascular bundles enabling tall land plants to thrive.

Mosses (bryophytes) vs vascular plants

  • Mosses are small green non-flowering bryophytes lacking true roots and vascular tissue.
  • Anchored by hair-like rhizoids; they absorb water directly across their body surface.
  • Reproduce via spores and require external water for fertilisation ('plant amphibians').
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Practise this concept · संबंधित प्रश्न

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Sources & study notes · स्रोत

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