phloem

[ floh-em ]

noun
  1. the part of a vascular bundle consisting of sieve tubes, companion cells, parenchyma, and fibers and forming the food-conducting tissue of a plant.

Origin of phloem

1
First recorded in 1870–75; from German Phloëm, irregularly formed from Greek phló(os), phloiós “bark (of a tree), rind (of a fruit)” + -ēma passive noun suffix

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for phloem

phloem

/ (ˈfləʊɛm) /


noun
  1. tissue in higher plants that conducts synthesized food substances to all parts of the plant

Origin of phloem

1
C19: via German from Greek phloos bark

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for phloem

phloem

[ flōĕm′ ]


  1. A tissue in vascular plants that conducts food from the leaves and other photosynthetic tissues to other plant parts. Phloem consists of several different kinds of cells: sieve elements, parenchyma cells, sclereids, and fibers. In mature woody plants it forms a sheathlike layer of tissue in the stem, just inside the bark. See more at cambium photosynthesis. Compare xylem.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Cultural definitions for phloem

phloem

[ (floh-em) ]


The system of vessels in a plant that carries food from the leaves to the rest of the plant. (See xylem.)

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.