Translocation of Water (Ascent of Sap)

Translocation of water, also called ascent of sap, is the long-distance transport of water together with its dissolved minerals from the root upward to the stem, leaves and other aerial parts of the plant — moving, notably, against the pull of gravity. This upward movement takes place through the hollow, non-living conducting elements of the xylem, the tracheids and vessels, in every vascular plant, and classic ringing experiments (in which a girdle of bark and phloem is removed from a stem while the plant continues to survive and its leaves stay hydrated) have confirmed that the xylem, not the phloem, is the actual pathway of ascent. …