Ivan is looking at a cross section of a stem taken from a vascular plant. he sees two different types of vascular tissue: the xylem, which is closer to the center of the stem, and the phloem, located around the xylem, closer to the outside of the stem. how do these two structures work together in a living plant?

The xylem is a vascular tissue responsible for the transportation of water from the root to other parts of the plant. While the phloem is responsible for the transportation of soluble organic nutrients gotten from photosynthesis, to other parts of the plant.

Explanation:

The xylem is a hollow tube made up of dead empty cells that continues throughout the whole length of the trunk of a plant. The cohesive (i.e water attracts water) and adhesive (i.e water attracts xylem) nature of water makes it possible for water to move from the root which is the major source of water transported, up to the topmost leaf of the plant in a process called capillarity. An upward pull, which keeps the upstream of water continuous is generated during transpiration (i.e the loss of water from the plant).

The phloem, which is also hollow in nature, transports glucose from photosynthetic regions of the plant, majorly the leaf, to other parts of the plant. This process is called translocation.