comparison of the xylem and phloem

The phloem and the xylem are complex tissues that perform the transportation of food and water in a plant, They are both vascular tissues of the plant that together form vascular bundles, they work together as a unit to make the transportation of food, nutrients, minerals and water effective.

The xylem is a tubular shape that has no cross walls which allows a continuous column of water and minerals a more rapid transport within the xylem, there are two types protoxylem first formed xylem and metaxylem mature xylem which depends on pattern of lignin, the phloem is an elongated tubular shape with thin walled sieve tubes. The sieve tubes have pores at each end in the cross walls and microtubules that extend between sieve elements allowing longitudinal flow of material.
Xylem sap contains water, inorganic ions and a few organic chemicals whereas phloem sap contains water and sugars.
Both the phloem and xylem are tubular structures that give easy transportation, in xylem vessels water travels by bulk flow rather than cell diffusions, the phloem’s create a diffusion gradient by the concentration of organic substance inside the phloem cell, water flows into cells and the phloem sap moves from the source to sugar sinks by the cell diffusion gradient.
Negative pressure helps the movement of water and minerals in xylem while in phloem positive hydrostatic pressures are responsible for transportation. This is why the phloem has a bidirectional movement.
The xylem transports water and soluble mineral nutrients from the roots to various parts of the plant. The phloem moves the sugars made by the photosynthetic areas of plants to storage organs such as the roots, tubers or bulbs.