LAB 3: TRANSPIRATION AS A MECHANISM OF WATER TRANSPORT IN THE

CELERY XYLEM

Objective:

1. To study the effect of wind and light factors on transpiration in celery stalks.

Introduction:

Transpiration is the loss of water by evaporation of water, usually through the stomata in
the leaves. This process is usually initiated by a higher water potential inside the cells of a plant
than in the environment surrounding it. This higher water potential inside the plant launches the
process of osmosis to occur, moving water into the mesophyll cells. Although in cases with a
lower water potential in the cell might partially prevent transpiration, the stomata of a plant must
remain open to allow the entry of CO2 used in photosynthesis. All plants do not transpire at the
same rates while under different conditions. The purpose of this experiment was to test the
effects of environmental variables on rates of transpiration using a controlled experiment. Since
transpiration is the plants main source of water loss, placing the plant in different conditions will
test the way different environments affect water loss and the closing or opening of the plant’s
stomata.

Materials

Celery Stalks

Eosin Dye (red)

Gooseneck Lamp

Fan

Scalpel

Tiles

Tissue

Ruler
Procedure

1. Each celery stalk was cut 1 cm from the bottom end as it remains submerged in water.
The celery stalk was cut at the same height.
2. Flask A, B, C, D which contained 200 ml eosin dye was labeled.
3. The cut end of each celery stalk was quickly placed into the flask
4. Flask A was placed on a normal room temperature, flask B in front of running fan and
flask C in front of gooseneck lamp.
5. The time was noted and all the celery stalks was allowed to stand for less than 5 minutes
in their designated environmental conditions.
6. The experiment was stopped once any of the eosin reach the top end of celery stalk and
the time was recorded.
7. The celery stalks was removed from their flask. Excess dye was rinsed from the stalks
under running water and placed the on tissue.
8. A metric ruler and scalpel was used to cut 1 cm segments from the bottom end under
running water and placed them on a tissue.
9. Examined the cut end of the stalk for the presence of eosin dye in the xylem tissue
positioned along the outer edge of the stalk after each cut was made.
10. Continued cutting 1 cm segments from each stalk until the dye begin to fade in the
xylem.
11. 11. The distance the dye traveled up each stalk was tabulated.
Results & Discussion

Conditions The distance the dye traveled up (cm)

Room Temperature 17
In front of running fan 22
Under Gooseneck Lamp 22

After testing multiple conditions for plant transpiration each plant in every condition
shows the increment of the distance of the dye traveled up in the process of transpiration. The
distance of the dye traveled up each condition is shown above, with room condition having a
distance of 17 cm, light travelled up to 22 cm and finally fan travelled up to 22 cm. The table
shows the predicted result that the light and fan variables would have the highest distance
travelled through transpiration and the room temperature variables would have the least
amount. Light and fan variables have the highest distance travelled because sunlight promote
photosynthesis to occur and wind causes the emission of water to occur due to a lower water
potential outside the flower. Then, the room condition having the least distance because it
was the constant variable and there were no influences for or against transpiration, allowing
the natural rate of transpiration to take place. There were a few sources of error in the
experiment that could have affected the results. Human error occurs when we testing the
transpiration rate in the room temperature, the temperature of the lab were in air conditioned.
So, the temperature was slightly lower than the normal temperature. So I suggest that to test
in the normal temperature should be done outside the lab. Some systemic errors include the
measuring devices because they are not 100% precise, so it may cause a slight inaccuracy in
the data. The experiment can be improved by adding more trials. It is not possible to get
accurate data with only one trial for each treatment. Also, testing more conditions will help
show the behavior of plants in different environments.
 Experiment 2

Materials:

Celery leaves, Graph Paper

Objective

1. To calculate the rate of transpiration in celery leaves

Procedure

1. The celery leaves to be measured was laid on 1 cm grid and their outlines was traced
2. The number of square centimeters was counted. The area of the partial squares was
estimated.
3. Do not include the area of the stem (petiole) in your calculations.

Results & Discussion

Conditions Area of the leaves (cm3)

Room Temperature 9
In front of running fan 13
Under Gooseneck Lamp 12

After testing the different condition for the rate of transpiration, measure the area of each
leaf tested. This was done to see does the leaves area effect the rate of transpiration. From the
data above, we can see that the leaves that tested with fan and gooseneck lamp have the larger
surface areas which are 13 cm3 and 12 cm3 respectively. Then, the leaf tested in room
temperature is 9 cm3. To compare with the previous experiment, the rate of transpiration is
higher in fan and gooseneck lamp. This clearly shows that more water was lost from the larger
leaves than from the smaller leaves. Therefore this proves that the larger the surface area on a
leaf the higher the amount of water loss through the more stomata, thus the faster rate of
transpiration. There are some source of error in this experiment which is when we trace the
outline of the leaves, the leaves are cannot lined correctly because the structure of the leaves are
no even. In a nutshell, the experiment conducted to observe the rate of transpiration yields the
expected results.
Conclusion

For the conclusion, based on the objective, we had observed the effect of wind and light
factors on transpiration in celery stalks and calculate the rate of transpiration in celery leaves.
From that we had learned about the factors that affect the rate of transpiration of the leaves. We
had achieved the objectives.

References

1. Vadez.V, Kholova,J., Medina,S., Kakkera.A., Anderberg,H. Transpiration efficiency:

new insights into an old story, Journal of Experimental Botany, Volume 65, Issue 21, 1
November 2014, Pages 6141–6153, https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/eru040

2. Bengtson, C., Larsson, S., & LILJENBERG, C. (1978). Effects of water stress on
cuticular transpiration rate and amount and composition of epicuticular wax in seedlings
of six oat varieties. Physiologia Plantarum, 44(4), 319-324.