Question

Describe experiments on:

To show that water is conducted upwards through the xylem.

Answer 1

Procedure: Take a healthy, leafy balsam plant or twig and place its roots/cut end into a beaker containing water stained with a bright red eosin dye. Leave the setup undisturbed in sunlight for a few hours.

Observation: The veins of the leaves and the stem will start showing distinct pinkish-red lines. If you cut a thin cross-section of the stem and observe it under a microscope, only the xylem vessels will appear stained red.

Conclusion: This confirms that water moves upward through the plant specifically via the xylem tissue.