Q.Which of the following is not a part of stele?

When xylem and phloem alternate on separate radii within a bundle, this is the radial arrangement, typical of roots.

Vascular bundles can be classified by how xylem and phloem are arranged relative to each other. In the radial arrangement (found in roots), xylem and phloem are situated on DIFFERENT radii, alternating with each other around the centre, rather than lying together on the same radius. This contrasts with the conjoint arrangement (typical of stems), where xylem and phloem lie on the SAME radius, with phloem usually located on the outer side of the xylem; conjoint bundles are further termed 'open' (with a cambium between xylem and phloem, allowing secondary growth, as in dicot stems) or 'closed' (without cambium, as in monocot stems).

…

The vascular tissue system comprises both xylem and phloem.

A flowering plant's tissues are organised into three tissue systems: the epidermal system, the ground (fundamental) tissue system, and the vascular (conducting) tissue system. The vascular system consists of two complex tissues that always occur together, usually as vascular bundles:

• Xylem — conducts water and dissolved minerals from roots upward, and also provides mechanical support; made of tracheids, vessels, xylem fibres and xylem parenchyma. …

Xylem, phloem and pericycle all lie inside the stele; the endodermis is the layer just outside it and is not itself part of the stele.

In a dicot root, the tissues from outside inward are: epidermis (piliferous layer) → cortex → endodermis → stele. The stele (vascular cylinder) is everything enclosed by the endodermis, and it includes:

• Pericycle — the outermost layer of the stele, just inside the endodermis, from which lateral roots arise.
• Xylem — usually radial (alternating with phloem) in roots.
• Phloem — alternates with xylem patches.
• Conjunctive tissue / pith, where present. …

Bicollateral vascular bundles — with phloem on both sides of the xylem — are found in Cucurbitaceae stems.

In most dicot stems, the vascular bundle is 'collateral,' meaning xylem lies on the inner side and phloem strictly on the outer side of the same bundle. In a small number of plant families, an additional patch of phloem also occurs on the INNER side of the xylem (facing the pith), so the xylem is sandwiched between an outer phloem strand and an inner phloem strand — this arrangement is called bicollateral. It is a diagnostic anatomical feature of the family Cucurbitaceae (pumpkin, cucumber, bottle gourd, etc.) and is also seen in some Solanaceae and Convolvulaceae members, but among the given options it is specifically associated with Cu …

Both statements are true, and the Reason is the correct explanation of the Assertion.

In root anatomy (of both monocots and dicots), the vascular tissue is arranged as a 'radial' vascular bundle: xylem and phloem are NOT located together on the same radius (unlike in stems, where they are 'conjoint'). Instead, xylem patches and phloem patches alternate, lying on different radii around the central axis of the root. This alternating, separate-radii arrangement is the very definition of a radial vascular bundle, so it directly explains why radial bundles occur in roots of both monocots and dicots — the Rea …

Vascular bundles with cambium present between the xylem and phloem are called 'open' vascular bundles, since the cambium allows continued (secondary) growth; those without cambium are 'closed'.

Vascular bundles are classified on the basis of the presence or absence of cambium:

• Open vascular bundle: cambium is present between the xylem and phloem. This cambium remains meristematic and continues to cut off new xylem (inward) and phloem (outward) cells throughout the life of the plant, producing secondary growth. This type is characteristic of dicot stems. …

Both figures show conjoint, collateral vascular bundles (phloem and xylem on the same radius, phloem outside and xylem inside); they are distinguished as closed (no persistent cambium, as in monocots) or open (a strip of cambium present, as in dicots).

Vascular bundles are classified by three criteria:

• Conjoint vs Radial: conjoint bundles have xylem and phloem together on the same radius (as in stems); radial bundles have them on alternating radii (as in roots). Both figures here are conjoint.
• Collateral vs Bicollateral: collateral bundles have a single phloem strip only on the outer side of the xylem; bicollateral bundles (found in families like Cucurbitaceae and Solanaceae) additionally have an inner phloem strip on the inner side of the xylem. Since both figures show only ONE outer phloem region and no inner phloem, they are collateral, not bicollateral — this rules out options (b) and (c).
• Open vs Closed: if a cambium strip is present between the phloem and xylem (capable of further division/secondary growth), the bundle is open — typical of dicot stems. If no cambium is present between them (only conjunctive tissue, no further growth possible), the bundle is closed — typical of monocot stems. …

Bicollateral vascular bundles — with phloem on both sides of the xylem — are a distinguishing anatomical feature of the stem in Cucurbitaceae.

Most dicot stems have conjoint, collateral vascular bundles, where phloem lies only on the outer side of the xylem, with the two tissues arranged along the same radius. In a smaller number of families, the vascular bundles are bicollateral — phloem is present on both the outer and the inner sides of the xylem, i.e., internal (perimedullary) phloem in addition to the usual external phloem.

…

Xylem and phloem occurring as separate, alternating patches arranged in a ring (not bundled together) is the defining feature of a radial vascular bundle, the type found in roots.

Vascular bundles are classified by the relative arrangement of xylem and phloem:

• Conjoint bundles — xylem and phloem lie together on the same radius (found in stems and leaves).
• Radial bundles — xylem and phloem lie on separate radii, alternating with each other around the centre, so that xylem patches point toward the centre and phloem patches lie between them. This arrangement is characteristic of roots. …

A bicollateral vascular bundle, where phloem occurs on both the outer and inner faces of the xylem, is a distinguishing anatomical feature of members of the family Cucurbitaceae (e.g., pumpkin, cucumber).

Typically, in a conjoint collateral vascular bundle, phloem lies only on the outer side of the xylem. However, in members of the family Cucurbitaceae (e.g., Cucurbita/pumpkin), the vascular bundles are bicollateral — here phloem is present on both the outer and the inner side of the xylem, with the xylem sandwiched in between. Th …

Root vascular bundles are radial (xylem and phloem on different radii), unlike the conjoint bundles of the stem.

In a dicot root's primary structure, xylem occurs as separate radial patches (often star-shaped/exarch, with protoxylem pointing outward) alternating with equal-numbered patches of phloem — this is called a radial vascular bundle. In contrast, ste …