Plant Tissues and Organs

Plants, like animals, are organised into cells, tissues, organs and organ systems. This lesson covers the structure and function of plant tissues, the leaf as a plant organ, and the plant organ system, as required by the AQA GCSE Combined Science Trilogy specification (8464).

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Plant Organ System

The main plant organ system is responsible for transporting substances around the plant. It consists of three main organs:

Plant Organ	Function
Roots	Absorb water and mineral ions from the soil; anchor the plant
Stem	Supports the plant and transports water, minerals and sugars between roots and leaves
Leaves	Main site of photosynthesis; gas exchange

These organs work together as a transport system:

graph TD
    R["Roots"] -->|"Water and minerals absorbed"| S["Stem"]
    S -->|"Water and minerals transported upward (via xylem)"| L["Leaves"]
    L -->|"Sugars produced by photosynthesis"| S2["Stem"]
    S2 -->|"Sugars transported to all parts (via phloem)"| R2["Roots, flowers, fruits, storage organs"]

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Plant Tissues

Plants contain several specialised tissue types:

Epidermal Tissue