For those of you who’ve ever put a cut on a tree’s trunk would have noticed a sticky and gooey liquid coming out of the cut. This is sap and does the same job for plants and trees as blood does for humans and animals. While humans and animals need blood to survive, we can also say that trees need sap for their survival.
Mainly there are three different types of sap available in plants – sap, xylem sap and phloem sap. While sap mostly consists of water, xylem sap is a watery solution of hormones, minerals and other nutrients. On the other hand, Phloem sap is made up of water, sugar, hormones and other minerals.
Just like blood carries essential nutrients to all parts of our body, sap carries minerals, sugar and water to all parts of a tree. Further, sap also protects the tree from freezing during extremely cold conditions and keeps them alive during the winters. Moreover, without the sap being flowing through the tree, it would be difficult for trees to disseminate the food and survive.
