Plant and Animal Systems, Vascular Tissues, and Plant Anatomy Vocabulary

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering plant vascular systems, plant tissues, meristems, and comparative organ system functions between plants and animals.

Xylem

A complex permanent vascular tissue that transports water and dissolved mineral salts upward from roots to stems and leaves while providing structural support.

Tracheid

A type of water-conducting cell in xylem that assists in transporting water and providing mechanical support within plants.

Vessel

A specialized xylem cell in flowering plants containing perforation plates that enables rapid water flow.

Transpiration

The process by which water vapor escapes from a leaf through open stomata, creating negative pressure that pulls water upward through xylem tubes.

Cohesion

The attraction between water molecules that causes them to stick to each other, forming a continuous column of water inside xylem.

Adhesion

The property of water molecules sticking to the inner cell walls of xylem, assisting in upward fluid movement.

Phloem

A complex permanent tissue that conducts manufactured food and plant nutrients (sugars, amino acids, minerals) from photosynthetic leaves to other plant regions.

Translocation

The bidirectional transport process in phloem that moves sugary sap from sugar sources to sugar sinks.

Sugar Source

A plant part with high sugar concentration (such as mature leaves or roots) where sugars are actively loaded into the phloem.

Sugar Sink

A plant region where sugar is utilized or stored, such as shoots, fruits, stems, or growing roots.

Pressure Flow Model

The mechanism of phloem transport where active sugar loading draws water from xylem by osmosis, generating high pressure at the source that pushes sugary sap toward lower pressure areas at the sink.

Meristematic Tissue

Plant tissue consisting of actively dividing, small cells with thin cell walls, a large nucleus, and small or absent vacuoles, responsible for growth.

Apical Meristem

Meristematic tissue located at the tips of roots and shoots responsible for primary growth, increasing plant length and height.

Lateral Meristem

Meristematic tissue found in the cambium on the sides of stems and roots, responsible for secondary growth that increases plant thickness and girth.

Intercalary Meristem

Meristematic tissue situated at leaf bases or nodes (notably in grasses) that enables rapid internode elongation and regrowth after grazing or cutting.

Permanent Tissue

Specialized tissue composed of cells that have differentiated, stopped actively dividing, and adapted for specific functions like protection, support, storage, and transport.

Cell Differentiation

The developmental process through which unspecialized meristematic cells stop dividing and mature into specialized cell types with specific functions.

Parenchyma

A simple permanent tissue found in soft leaf and fruit parts that performs food and water storage, photosynthesis, and tissue repair or regeneration.

Collenchyma

A simple permanent tissue located beneath the epidermis of young stems that provides flexible support, allowing stems and leaves to bend without breaking.

Sclerenchyma

A simple permanent tissue comprising fibers and hard seed/nut structures that provides strength, rigidity, protection, and support to mature plant structures.

Simple Permanent Tissue

Permanent plant tissue composed mainly of a single type of cell, including parenchyma, collenchyma, and sclerenchyma.

Complex Permanent Tissue

Permanent tissue containing distinct cell types that collaborate to carry out transport functions, specifically xylem and phloem.

Indeterminate Growth

A pattern of growth characteristic of plants, where the organism continues growing throughout its entire life.

Determinate Growth

A pattern of growth characteristic of animals, where growth stops after reaching a specific developmental stage.

Autotrophic

A type of nutrition in plants where organisms manufacture their own organic nutrients using sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water via photosynthesis.

Heterotrophic

A type of nutrition in animals where organisms consume other organisms and break down ingested nutrients using a digestive system.

Lenticels

Pore-like openings on plant stems that participate in gas exchange alongside leaf stomata.

Phototropism

A plant directional growth response or motor mechanism triggered by light direction.

Gravitropism

A plant growth response directed by the pull of gravity.

Thigmotropism

A plant directional growth response activated by mechanical touch or physical contact.

Phytoalexins

Chemical defense compounds produced by plants as part of their non-specialized immune response.