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close this bookBetter Farming Series 02 - The Plant: the Stem; the Buds; the Leaves (FAO - INADES, 1976, 30 p.)
View the document(introduction...)
View the documentPreface
View the documentPlan of work
close this folderThe stem
View the documentWhere is the stem?
View the documentHow a stem is made
View the documentWhat the stem does
View the documentThe buds
close this folderThe leaves
View the document(introduction...)
close this folderHow a leaf is made
View the document(introduction...)
View the documentThe leaf-stalk
View the documentThe veins
View the documentThe shape of leaves
close this folderWhat are leaves for?
View the document(introduction...)
View the documentHow the leaf changes raw sap into elaborated sap
View the documentOrganic matter in the plant
View the documentThe plant breathes.
View the documentThe plant transpires.
close this folderSome practical applications
View the documentThe plant needs air and light
View the documentThe plant needs water
View the documentThe plant needs its leaves

The veins

In the middle of the leaf there is the midrib.
On each side of the midrib other veins branch off.
These are the primary veins.
They are smaller. These primary veins divide into many still smaller veins.

Perhaps you have seen a leaf that has been eaten by insects.
The leaf tissue has gone and only the veins are left. It is like a spider's web.

What are the veins for?

They carry the sap.
The sap passes along the stem vessels.
Then it enters the vein vessels.

Cut a palm frond and you will see the sap flow. The vessels of the palm frond carry the sap.

In a man's body, the vessels carry the blood.
In a plant, the vessels carry the sap.

Sap is the blood of plants.