Plant stem
A plant organ that supports leaves, flowers, and fruits and transports water, minerals, and sugars between roots and other parts.
Xylem: Vascular tissue that conducts water and dissolved minerals from roots toward the rest of a plant. Its water-conducting vessels run through stems and also help keep them upright.
Shoot system: The aboveground plant body, including stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits. Stems form the supporting framework of this plant body.
Rhizome: A horizontal underground stem that can produce roots and shoots at its nodes. It is a modified stem that spreads plants and stores resources belowground.
Plant root: A plant organ that anchors the plant and absorbs water and minerals from soil. Roots usually absorb and anchor, while stems support shoots and transport materials.
Phloem: Vascular tissue that transports sugars and other organic compounds between plant organs. It carries products of photosynthesis through stems to growing and storage tissues.
Plant tissue: A group of plant cells organized to perform particular functions. Stems combine several tissue systems to support and transport materials.
Stolon: A horizontal stem that grows along or just below the ground and forms new plants at nodes. It enables vegetative spread, as in strawberry runners.
Plant leaf: A plant organ specialized mainly for photosynthesis, gas exchange, and water loss. Leaves capture light; stems position and connect them to the rest of the plant.
Vascular cambium: A cylinder of dividing cells that produces secondary xylem inward and secondary phloem outward. Its activity thickens woody stems by adding vascular tissue.
Node (botany): A point on a stem where leaves, buds, or branches attach. Nodes mark the sites from which leaves and lateral shoots emerge.