What term refers to the internal transport of food, water, herbicides, or other materials within a plant?

• A. Translocation
• B. Xylem
• C. Pesticide
• D. Residue

Answer: (A)

Internal transport of substances within a plant is called translocation. This process involves two vascular pathways: xylem and phloem. Water and minerals are moved upward from the roots to the rest of the plant through the xylem, driven mainly by transpiration. Sugars and other organic nutrients produced in the leaves travel through the phloem to parts of the plant that need them, such as developing fruits or roots. Systemic chemicals, like certain herbicides, also move through these pathways, spreading from the uptake site to other tissues to affect the whole plant. That makes translocation the right term for describing how food, water, herbicides, and other materials are moved internally. Xylem is the tissue that conducts water, not the overall transport process, and pesticides or residues refer to the chemical substances themselves, not the movement mechanism.