introducing, Transpiration! an animated overview of mass-transportation in plants by yours truly :)
this lesson on water transportation was so fast-paced, and left me feeling so winded, that i had to make a visual guide to aid my understanding (and what better way to help others than by sharing it here!).
some smaller details i couldn’t fit on the diagram;
apoplast; water travelling through gaps in the cellulose cell walls
symplast; water travelling via the cytoplasm (also sometimes via vacuoles, called vacuolar travel).
the Casparian strip is a waxy barrier lining the cells past the cortex and close to the xylem; It plugs the gaps and forces any apoplast water to leave the walls and travel the rest of the way to the vessels via symplast.
water climbs the xylem thanks to cohesion & adhesion; cohesion ensures the water can rise as a column, and adhesion helps it stick to the vessels. Bordered pits also allow water to move between vessels.
and that’s it! let me know if this helps you at all, and please don’t repost! simply reblog. ♡
