For the first-year students.

Plant Parts

What Do Different Plant Parts Do?

Plant parts do different things for the plant.

Roots

Roots act like straws absorbing water and minerals from the soil. Tiny root hairs stick out of the root, helping in the absorption. Roots help to anchor the plant in the soil so it does not fall over. Roots also store extra food for future use.

Stems

Stems do many things. They support the plant. They act like the plant's plumbing system, conducting water and nutrients from the roots and food in the form of glucose from the leaves to other plant parts. Stems can be herbaceous like the bendable stem of a daisy or woody like the trunk of an oak tree.

A celery stalk, the part of celery that we eat, is a special part of the leaf structure called apetiole. A petiole is a small stalk attaching the leaf blade of a plant to the stem.	In celery, the petiole serves many of the same functions as a stem. It's easy to see the "pipes" that conduct water and nutrients in a stalk of celery.	Here the "pipes" are dyed red so you can easily see them.

Leaves

Most plants' food is made in their leaves. Leaves are designed to capture sunlight which the plant uses to make food through a process called photosynthesis.

Flowers

Flowers are the reproductive part of most plants. Flowers contain pollen and tiny eggs called ovules. After pollination of the flower and fertilization of the ovule, the ovule develops into a fruit.

Fruit

Fruit provides a covering for seeds. Fruit can be fleshy like an apple or hard like a nut.

Seeds

Seeds contain new plants. Seeds form in fruit.