Book 4, Question 23
Why Do Leaves Have Veins?
Veins are roads and drinking straws inside a leaf. They carry water in and sugar out, and they keep the soft leaf blade from flopping. Let's follow the delivery!
From the book
Page from A Million Whys Book 4
More fun facts
- Leaf veins work like pipes, carrying water through the leaf.
- Another kind of plant tissue in the veins, called phloem, carries the sugars a leaf makes to the rest of the plant.
- Xylem brings water and nutrients up from the roots.
- In one common houseplant, the big leaf veins follow a pattern also used in city planning.
- That pattern keeps the main water-carrying veins as far as possible from pores that leak water.
- Studying leaf veins has helped engineers think about how to deliver water and energy.
Sources: Science News Explores, Science News Explores, Smithsonian Magazine
Questions kids ask
What do leaf veins carry?
Water coming in from the roots, and sugars the leaf makes going out to the rest of the plant.