What distinguishes xylem and phloem from other tissues?
Xylem and phloem are vascular tissues. They are tissues that form tubes in plants. Xylem carries water and minerals contained in water that is drawn up from the ground through the roots. Phloem carries food produced in leaves down and up to other parts of plants. In trees, the phloem is located just inside the bark. It is a fairly narrow region. The part of trees called wood is the xylem. A layer called the vascular cambium is located between the xylem and phloem. It produces xylem to the inside and phloem to the outside. Growth rings in tree trunks are xylem. Plants like mosses, liverworts and horn worts don’t have vascular tissues. Water, minerals, and food move around these plants very slowly. The movement is from one cell to another then another, and so on. Nonvascular plants are small and must grow in moist places. Vascular plants are larger because materials can move around in them quickly.
