Quick Facts
- Key People:
- Stephen Hales
- Henry Horatio Dixon
- Related Topics:
- plant
- maple syrup
- cohesion hypothesis
- transport
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sap
plant physiology
Stag beetles battling for oak sapWatch two stag beetles fight over sap.
See all videos for this articlesap, watery fluid of plants. Cell sap is a fluid found in the vacuoles (small cavities) of the living cell; it contains variable amounts of food and waste materials, inorganic salts, and nitrogenous compounds. Xylem sap carries soil nutrients (e.g., dissolved minerals) from the root system to the leaves; the water is then lost through transpiration. Maple sap is xylem sap, containing some sugar in late winter. Phloem, or sieve-tube, sap is the fluid carrying sugar from leaves to other parts of the plant in the summer. See also cohesion hypothesis.
This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.
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