Laboratory exercise.—The structure (cross section) of a woody stem.
Demonstration.—To show that food passes downward in the bark.
Demonstration.—To show the condition of food passing through the stem.
Demonstration.—Plants with special digestive organs.
The Circulation and Final Uses of Foods in Green Plants.—We have seen that cells of green plants make food and that such cells are mostly in the leaves. But all parts of the bodies of plants grow. Roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits grow. Seeds are storehouses of food. We must now examine the stem of some plant in order to see how food is distributed, stored, and finally used in the various parts of the plant.
The Structure of a Woody Stem.—If we cut a cross section through a young willow or apple stem, we find it shows three distinct regions. The center is occupied by the spongy, soft pith; surrounding this is found the rather tough wood, while the outermost area is bark. More careful study of the bark reveals the presence of three layers—an outer layer, a middle green layer, and an inner fibrous layer, the latter usually brown in color. This layer is made up largely of tough fiberlike cells known as bast fibers. The most important parts of this inner bark, so far as the plant is concerned, are many tubelike structures known as sieve tubes. These are long rows of living cells, having perforated sievelike ends. Through these cells food materials pass downward from the upper part of the plant, where they are manufactured.
Section of a twig of box elder three years old, showing three annual growth rings. The radiating lines (m) which cross the wood (w) represent the pith rays, the principal ones extending from the pith in the center to the cortex or bark. (From Coulter's Plant Relations.)
In the wood will be noticed (see Figure) a number of lines radiating outward from the pith toward the bark. These are thin plates of pith which separate the wood into a number of wedge-shaped masses. These masses of wood are composed of many elongated cells, which, placed end to end, form thousands of little tubes connecting the leaves with the roots. In addition to these are many thick-walled cells, which give strength to the mass of wood. The bundles of tubes with their surrounding hard walled cells are the continuation of the bundles of tubes which are found in the root. In sections of wood which have taken several years to grow, we find so-called annual rings. The distance between one ring and the next (see Figure) usually represents the amount of growth in one year. Growth takes place from an actively dividing layer of cells, known as the cambium layer. This layer forms wood cells from its inner surface and bark from its outer surface. Thus new wood is formed as a distinct ring around the old wood.
Use of the Outer Bark.—The outer bark of a tree is protective. The cells are dead, the heavy woody skeletons serving to keep out cold and dryness, as well as prevent the evaporation of fluids from within. The bark also protects the tree from attack of other plants or animals which might harm it. Most trees are provided with a layer of corky cells. This layer in the cork oak is thick enough to be of commercial importance. The function of the corky layer in preventing evaporation is well seen in the case of the potato, which is a true stem, though found underground. If two potatoes of equal weight are balanced on the scales, the skin having been peeled from one, the peeled potato will be found to lose weight rapidly. This is due to loss of water, which is held in by the skin of the unpeeled potato (see right hand figure below).