The system is mostly non-living, Transpiration is the driving force. The symplast includes the phloem as the main conducting tissue and is a more or less continuous system of cytoplasm throughout the plant. This system is living and must remain so for translocation to occur. Sinks include actively growing stem tips, root tips, and buds and storage organs such as roots, tubers, and rhizomes, in which sugar is being converted to starch. Once inside the cytoplasm the substance can move throughout the plant.
Annual plants live only one year and reproduce by seed.
They include summer annuals and winter annuals. Biennial plants live two years and reproduce by seed. They overwinter in the basal rosette stage the first year, respond to cold, and then bolt, flower, seed and die the second year. Simple Perennial plants live more than two years and reproduce by seed. They include simple perennials and creeping perennials.