Xylem cells provide support and conduct water throughout a plant. They can be alive or dead, and contain trachieds, fibers, vessel members, and pot members. Dead xylem cells still support the plant due to intact lignin. Without xylem cells, a plant would have no vascular system.
A xylem cell is a cell responsible for providing support to a plant. These cells also make up the plant’s vascular system, conducting water throughout the plant and providing circulation. These cells can be both alive and dead, and there are different types of xylem cells that can be found within the parts of a plant known collectively as the xylem.
Plant cells begin as undifferentiated parenchyma cells. These cells can store energy for the plant and can also differentiate and mature into various cell types including xylem cells. Plant xylem usually contains a number of parenchyma cells, leading some people to classify them as a xylem cell type, although this is technically incorrect.
Support is created through trachied and fibers, cells that contain a large amount of lignin in their cell walls. Lignin stiffens the cell walls, making the xylem as a whole very stiff in order to support the plant and keep it upright. Trachieds are also involved in conduction, as are cells known as vessel members. Pot members are tubular xylem cells designed to force water against the pull of gravity so that it can circulate to the top of the plant.
When xylem cells die, they are still useful to the mother plant, unlike dead animal cells, which are usually broken down and discarded because they no longer serve a function. Although a dead xylem cell is no longer capable of performing complex biological functions, it can still act as part of a plant support network because the lignin in the cell walls is intact. These cells may also continue to conduct water through the xylem after death, because their conducting properties are purely mechanical, created by the shape of the cell, rather than biological in nature.
Without xylem cells, a plant would have no vascular system. Vascular plants are capable of being much more complex than their non-vascular counterparts and could be considered an evolutionary step over non-vascular plants. Vascular plants may also be called “woody plants,” because their xylem gives them a woody texture and the ability to grow large, upright, and complex. Woody plants perform a number of important ecological functions and are also highly valued as ornamental plants in gardens around the world.
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