Biology · Anatomy of Flowering Plants · NEET
A tissue is a group of similar cells doing one job (like parenchyma or xylem). A tissue system is a bigger group of tissues, grouped by their LOCATION in the plant. NCERT classifies tissue systems by structure and location, not by cell type. So many tissues can belong to one tissue system. Example: parenchyma, collenchyma and sclerenchyma are all tissues, but where they lie decides which system they belong to.
NCERT groups all plant tissues into three based on their position: the outermost covering (epidermal), the conducting core (vascular), and everything left in between (ground). Every tissue in the plant falls into one of these three by location. This is why the count is fixed at three for NEET - epidermal, ground, and vascular.
Epidermis is a tissue (a single layer of parenchyma-like cells). The epidermal tissue SYSTEM is bigger - it includes the epidermis PLUS stomata PLUS epidermal appendages like trichomes and root hairs. So epidermis is one part of the epidermal tissue system, not the whole system.
Ground tissue is everything EXCEPT epidermis and vascular bundles. It is made of simple tissues - parenchyma, collenchyma and sclerenchyma. By region it includes cortex, pericycle, pith and medullary rays in stems and roots. In the leaf, the ground tissue is the chloroplast-filled mesophyll. This 'everything in between' rule is a common NEET question.
They are classified on the basis of structure and LOCATION in the plant body, not on cell type. Epidermal = outer covering; ground = the bulk of the plant except epidermis and vascular bundles; vascular = the conducting xylem and phloem. Remember: same cell (parenchyma) can be in all three systems, so location decides the system.
Cortex is the region found between:
The transverse section of a plant shows: (a) many scattered vascular bundles with bundle sheath (b) large conspicuous parenchymatous ground tissue (c) vascular bundles conjoint and closed (d) phloem parenchyma absent. Identify the plant material:
Try the real previous-year questions from this chapter — each with the answer and a full solution.
NCERT presents three tissue systems - epidermal, ground and vascular - based on structure and location. For NEET you only need the three names and what each contains, not the historian's name.
The vascular (conducting) tissue system. Xylem and phloem are complex tissues that together form vascular bundles. Xylem carries water and minerals up; phloem carries food.
Yes. In leaves the ground tissue is the mesophyll - thin-walled cells full of chloroplasts. Ground tissue is any tissue that is not epidermis and not a vascular bundle.
Yes. Parenchyma is found in the epidermis (epidermal), in the cortex and pith (ground), and even inside vascular bundles as xylem/phloem parenchyma (vascular). Location, not cell type, decides the system.
The stomatal apparatus (pore + two guard cells + subsidiary cells) is part of the epidermal tissue system because stomata sit in the epidermis and control transpiration and gas exchange.
