Botany: Plant Stem Morphology and Modification
Channel: ScenseMe
Date: 2023-01-05

Delivered on: 7 NOVEMBER 2022

Stem, in botany, the plant axis that bears buds and shoots with leaves and, at its basal end, roots. The stem conducts water, minerals, and food to other parts of the plant; it may also store food, and green stems themselves produce food. In most plants the stem is the major vertical shoot, in some it is inconspicuous, and in others it is modified and resembles other plant parts (e.g., underground stems may look like roots).

The primary functions of the stem are to support the leaves; to conduct water and minerals to the leaves, where they can be converted into usable products by photosynthesis; and to transport these products from the leaves to other parts of the plant, including the roots. 

The stem conducts water and nutrient minerals from their site of absorption in the roots to the leaves by means of certain vascular tissues in the xylem. The movement of synthesized foods from the leaves to other plant organs occurs chiefly through other vascular tissues in the stem called phloem. Food and water are also frequently stored in the stem. 

Examples of food-storing stems include such specialized forms as tubers, rhizomes, and corms and the woody stems of trees and shrubs. Water storage is developed to a high degree in the stems of cacti, and all green stems are capable of photosynthesis.

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