Flashcards · Biology · Plant Tissues and Transport
Plant Tissues and Organs
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What is the leaf?
A plant organ, made of several tissues working together.
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Which tissue covers the surface of a leaf?
The epidermis.
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What is the waxy cuticle for?
It reduces water loss from the leaf.
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Where is most photosynthesis carried out in a leaf?
In the palisade mesophyll.
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Why is the palisade mesophyll near the top of the leaf?
That is where most light arrives.
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Why does the palisade mesophyll contain many chloroplasts?
To absorb as much light as possible for photosynthesis.
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What is special about the spongy mesophyll?
It has air spaces between the cells, which let gases diffuse and give a large surface area.
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What do the xylem and phloem do in a leaf?
Xylem brings water and minerals in, and phloem carries sugars away.
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What is a stoma?
A tiny pore in the lower epidermis that lets gases in and out.
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What do guard cells do?
They open and close the stomata.
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When do guard cells close the stomata?
When the plant is short of water.
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Why does closing the stomata help the plant?
It stops more water being lost by evaporation.
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What is meristem tissue?
Tissue at the tips of shoots and roots whose cells divide and can become any type of plant cell.
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Why are there more stomata on the underside of a leaf?
It is cooler and shadier, so less water is lost.
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Why is the upper epidermis transparent?
So that light can pass through to the palisade cells.
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Name the tissue marked X and say what it does. The palisade mesophyll. Its tall cells are full of chloroplasts and carry out most of the photosynthesis.
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Label every tissue in this leaf. 
Waxy cuticle, upper epidermis, palisade mesophyll, spongy mesophyll, air space, xylem, phloem, guard cell, stoma and lower epidermis.