The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
vascular bundle
in botany, a strand of conducting tissue extending lengthwise through the stems and roots of higher plants, including the ferns, fern allies, gymnosperms, and angiosperms. The vascular bundle consists of xylem, which conducts water and dissolved mineral substances from the soil to the leaves, and phloem, which conducts dissolved foods, especially sugars, from the leaves to the storage tissues of the stem and root. The structure of vascular bundles varies among the different plant groups. See wood.
