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Biology vocabulary · Plant Biology

Xylem

Meaning in biology, with examples

/ˈzaɪləm/nounCommon term

In biology, xylem means: The plant tissue that carries water and dissolved minerals upward from the roots to the stems and leaves. Its cells are dead when mature and form hollow tubes.

In Turkish: ksilem, odun borusu

How it is used

Paired with phloem in the vascular bundles of plants. Xylem walls are strengthened with lignin, the material that makes wood hard. Water moves up the xylem mainly because of transpiration pull. Pronounced ZY-lem (/ˈzaɪləm/).

Example sentences

  1. Water moves up the xylem from the roots to the leaves.

  2. In the cross-section, the xylem vessels were stained red.

Common collocations

  • xylem vessels
  • xylem sap
  • vascular bundle
  • transport in the xylem
  • phloemThe plant tissue that carries sugars and other products of photosynthesis from the leaves to other parts of the plant, such as roots, fruits and growing tips.
  • transpirationThe loss of water vapor from a plant, mainly through the stomata in its leaves. It pulls water up through the xylem from the roots.
  • tissueA group of similar cells that work together to do a particular job. Organs are made of several different types of tissue.
  • stomaA tiny pore, mostly on the underside of a leaf, that lets carbon dioxide in and oxygen and water vapor out. Each stoma is opened and closed by two guard cells.

More terms: Plant Biology

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