A tracheid is a long and tapered lignified cell in the

xylem Xylem is one of the two types of transport tissue in vascular plants, the other being phloem. The basic function of xylem is to transport water from roots to stems and leaves, but it also transports nutrients. The word ''xylem'' is derived from ...

vascular plants Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They ...

. It is a type of conductive cell called a tracheary element.

Angiosperms Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants ...

use another type of tracheary element, called vessel elements, to transport water through the xylem. The main functions of tracheid cells are to transport water and inorganic salts, and to provide structural support for trees. There are often pits on the cell walls of tracheids, which allows for water flow between cells. Tracheids are dead at functional maturity and do not have a protoplast. The

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...

( softwood) of

gymnosperm The gymnosperms ( lit. revealed seeds) are a group of seed-producing plants that includes conifers, cycads, '' Ginkgo'', and gnetophytes, forming the clade Gymnospermae. The term ''gymnosperm'' comes from the composite word in el, γυμν ...

s such as pines and other conifers is mainly composed of tracheids. Tracheids are also the main conductive cells in the primary xylem of

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...

s. The tracheid was first named after the German botanist Carl Gustav Sanio in 1863, from the German ''Tracheide''.

Evolution

Tracheids were the main conductive cells found in early vascular plants. In the first 140-150 million years of vascular plant evolution, tracheids were the only type of conductive cells found in fossils of plant xylem tissues. Ancestral tracheids did not contribute significantly to structural support, as can be seen in extant ferns. The

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

record shows three different types of tracheid cells found in early plants, which were classified as S-type, G-type and P-type. The first two of them were lignified and had pores to facilitate the transportation of water between cells. The P-type tracheid cells had pits similar to extant plant tracheids. Later, more complex pits appeared, such as bordered pits on many tracheids, which allowed plants to transport water between cells while reducing the risk of cavitation and embolisms in the xylem. As tracheids evolved along with secondary xylem tissues, specialized inter-tracheid pits appeared. Tracheid length and diameter also increased, with tracheid diameter increasing to an average length of 80 μm by the end of the Devonian period. Tracheids then evolved into the vessel elements and structural fibers that make up angiosperm wood.

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*Pictures of softwood tracheid
in cross section
an

both in pine. {{Biological tissue Plant anatomy Plant physiology

Evolution

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Further reading

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