(a) Transport of Water and Minerals:
The xylem tissue transports water and minerals. It consists of interconnected vessels and tracheids organized into continuous conducting tubes stretching from the roots to the leaves. These tubes carry water and minerals to all parts of the plant. Water is absorbed by osmosis, while the minerals are absorbed as ions by active transport (transport against the law of diffusion, by spending cellular energy). The cell membrane has transport proteins that allow the ions to cross the membrane. The ions then move upward through the xylem, to the leaves and other aerial parts of the plant.
Transport of Food and Other Substances:
The food manufactured in the leaves is translocated upwards, downwards and laterally to all parts of the plant through the phloem. The phloem also conducts some other substances such as amino acids. The conducting cells of the phloem are cylindrical cells called sieve tubes, which have a sieve like partitions at both ends. These partitions are called sieve plates. A continuous column from the leaves to other parts of the plant is formed by the arrangement of sieve tubes one above the other. Besides sieve tubes, the phloem also has companion cells and phloem parenchyma. Sucrose is the main form of carbohydrate that is translocated in plants. Its translocation into the phloem tissue occurs with the expenditure of energy. When sucrose is synthesized in the leaf cells, the osmotic pressure of the cells increases. As a result, water from the surrounding cells is forced to flow into the leaf cells by osmosis. This causes sucrose to be translocated from the point of its synthesis to the receiving end in the form of a solution. This process is dependent on the requirement of the plant.
(b) Pulmonary Vein
(i)The pulmonary veins are large blood vessels that receive oxygenated blood from the lungs and drain into the left atrium of the heart. There are four pulmonary veins, two from each lung. The pulmonary veins are among the few veins that carry oxygenated blood. The pulmonary veins play an essential role in respiration, by receiving blood that has been oxygenated in the alveoli and returning it to the left atrium.
(ii) Vena cava: The superior vena cava is the large vein which returns blood to the heart from the head, neck and both upper limbs. The inferior vena cava returns blood to the heart from the lower part of the body.
The superior vena cava is located in the middle of the chest and is surrounded by rigid structures and lymph nodes. The structure bordering the superior vena cava include the trachea, aorta, thymus, right bronchus of the lung and pulmonary artery.