Transport of water (and ions) up the plant. Also gives strength to the plant Transpiration* The transpiration stream is the movement of water from the roots of the plant up the steam to the leaves. Water moves into the plant roots by osmosis and continues to move across the cells of the roots to the xylem in the centre. There is a continuous gradient of water potential from water in the soil to the cells …showed first 75 words of 278 total…

…showed last 75 words of 278 total…plant. Xylem tubes are relatively narrow, which helps in the adhesion (attraction of water molecules of different types) of the water molecules with the cellulose and lignin surrounding the walls of the xylem. This adhesion helps to drag water up the narrow tubes and is called capillarity. This mechanism is also called the evaporation -tension -cohesion mechanism. *Transpiration is the loss of water from the leaves of plants. -water vapour is lost though the stomates.