Question

Give a short note on the protective tissue in plants

Answer 1

Protective tissue -

1. Protective tissue is the outermost layer of the plant such as the stem, leaves, and roots, and acts as a protection to the plant body.
2. They help in preventing infection in plants, desiccation, and mechanical injury.
3. They act as a barrier that does not allow the entry of the pathogen into the plant.

There are two main protective tissues namely -

(a) Epidermis-

1. The epidermis is the outermost layer of the plant body.
2. It is made of a single layer of cells, where the cells are closely packed without intercellular spaces.
3. It is covered by a waterproof layer called the cuticle.
4. The main function of the epidermis is to protect all the parts of the plant from infection and desiccation.

(b) Cork-

1. The cork is also called phloem as plants grow epidermis of the stem gets replaced with a secondary meristem called cork cambium.
2. The cells of the cork are dead, rectangular cells that are compactly arranged without intercellular spaces.