Vascular system, in plants, assemblage of conducting tissues and associated supportive fibres. Xylem tissue transports water and dissolved minerals to the leaves, and phloem tissue conducts food from the leaves to all parts of the plant.
The condition of the xylem, the woody elements in the stem, defines several categories. The protostele has a solid xylem core; the siphonostele has an open core or one filled with generalized tissue called pith. The discontinuous vascular system of monocots (e.g., grasses) consists of scattered vascular bundles; the continuous vascular system of dicots (e.g., roses) surrounds the central pith.
Vascular bundles run longitudinally along the stem. Vascular rays extend radially across the stem, assisting in conduction from the vascular bundles to tissues alongside them. The vascular tissues and supporting tissues constitute the stele.
Several kinds of vascular bundles are recognized. In the collateral pattern, the phloem lies only on one side of the xylem, usually toward the stem exterior. This arrangement is typical of the dicots, the majority of flowering plants, such as roses, apples, oaks, pines, etc. If phloem is on the outer and inner faces of the xylem, the bundle is bicollateral. A concentric bundle has xylem entirely surrounded by phloem (amphicribal condition) or phloem entirely surrounded by xylem (amphivasal condition). Closed bundles lack cambium and are unable to continue growth laterally. They are typical of monocots, such as grasses, lilies, and palms, in which they are scattered in two or more rings in the stem.