Transport in Plants: Structures and Water Uptake

Syllabus tag: KCSE | Biology | Form 2 | Topic 1 Transport in Plants

Lesson objectives

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

• State the necessity for transport in plants and animals.
• Describe the structure and functions of xylem and phloem.
• Explain the uptake of water and mineral salts by roots.
• Describe the internal structure of roots and stems.

Summary

Large multicellular organisms need transport systems because diffusion alone is far too slow over long distances. Plants have two: xylem carries water and mineral salts upwards only, and phloem carries manufactured food in both directions. Water enters through root hairs by osmosis, while mineral salts enter largely by active transport.