root pressure

American  

noun

Botany.

1. osmotic pressure within the cells of a root system that causes sap to rise through a plant stem to the leaves.

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root pressure Scientific  

1. Pressure produced in the roots of plants, causing exudation of sap from cut stems and guttation of water from leaves. The pressure is generated by the concentration of solutes in the xylem of the root and stem, which in turn causes water to move into the xylem by osmosis.

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Etymology

Origin of root pressure

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

Active transport and root pressure cause water to move from soil into plant roots, then up the plant stem.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2018

Water inside the Casparian strip travels upward as root pressure forces it through the vascular cylinder and into the xylem.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2018

Professor Craig: That is a very difficult question, because it isn't settled at the present time what credit we should give to capillarity and what to root pressure in sap circulation.

From Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Second Annual Meeting Ithaca, New York, December 14 and 15, 1911 by Northern Nut Growers Association