Question 1

The meristem responsible for increase in the LENGTH of the plant, present at root and shoot tips, is the:

Accepted Answer

Apical meristem. Apical meristems at tips cause primary growth (elongation); lateral meristems cause girth (secondary) growth.

Question 2

A simple permanent tissue with living, thin-walled cells that stores food and performs photosynthesis is:

Accepted Answer

Parenchyma. Parenchyma is the basic living tissue; collenchyma gives flexible support and sclerenchyma rigid support.

Question 3

Collenchyma provides mechanical support to growing parts and is recognised by:

Accepted Answer

Cells with cellulose thickening at the corners. Collenchyma cells are living with cellulose/pectin thickening at corners; sclerenchyma is dead with lignified walls.

Question 4

Which complex tissue conducts water and minerals and consists of tracheids, vessels, xylem fibres and xylem parenchyma?

Accepted Answer

Xylem. Xylem conducts water upward; phloem (sieve tubes, companion cells, phloem parenchyma, fibres) conducts food.

Question 5

The intercalary meristem, present at the base of internodes/leaves in grasses, is a leftover of the:

Accepted Answer

Apical meristem. Intercalary meristem is derived from apical meristem and allows regrowth after grazing/mowing in grasses.

Question 6

In the phloem of angiosperms, the living enucleate conducting cells are supported by adjacent ______ that control their activity:

Accepted Answer

Sieve tube — companion cells. Mature sieve tube elements lack a nucleus; their metabolism is regulated by the neighbouring companion cells.

Question 7

A plant increases in girth every year through the activity of a meristem that lies along the sides of the stem and root. This meristem is best classified as:

Accepted Answer

Lateral meristem. Vascular cambium and cork cambium lie laterally and add to girth (secondary growth), so they are lateral meristems. Apical and intercalary meristems add to length.

Question 8

Both the vascular cambium and the cork cambium appear later in the plant body and are responsible for growth in thickness. On the basis of their time of origin they are grouped as:

Accepted Answer

Secondary meristems. Meristems that arise later from already differentiated tissue (like cork cambium) are secondary meristems; apical and intercalary meristems are primary because they appear early in embryonic life.

Question 9

A sclerenchyma cell that is long, narrow, and pointed at both ends, occurring in patches that give hardness to the plant, is a:

Accepted Answer

Fibre. Elongated, tapering sclerenchyma cells are fibres; sclereids (stone cells) are short, isodiametric or irregular cells found in nut shells and guava pulp.

Question 10

In the phloem, the elongated tube-like conducting cells arranged end to end, whose end walls are perforated to form a sieve plate, are the:

Accepted Answer

Sieve tube elements. Sieve tube elements are placed end to end forming long sieve tubes; their sieve plates (perforated end walls) allow food to move. Companion cells sit beside them but do not conduct.

Question 11

Which one of the following statements about tracheids and vessels of the xylem is INCORRECT?

Accepted Answer

A vessel is a single elongated cell without perforated end walls. A vessel is a continuous tube made of several cells (vessel members) with perforated end walls; the description of it as a single cell without perforations actually fits a tracheid, so that statement is wrong.

Question 12

Assertion (A): Sieve tube elements can conduct food efficiently despite lacking a nucleus at maturity. Reason (R): Each sieve tube element is controlled by an adjacent companion cell connected to it by plasmodesmata. Choose the correct option:

Accepted Answer

Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A. Mature sieve tube elements lose their nucleus but stay functional because the neighbouring nucleate companion cell, linked through plasmodesmata, regulates their activity.

Question 13

The spongy, loosely arranged parenchyma with large air cavities that gives buoyancy to aquatic plants like Hydrilla is specifically called:

Accepted Answer

Aerenchyma. Parenchyma with extensive air spaces is aerenchyma, helping floating aquatic plants; chlorenchyma is chloroplast-rich parenchyma that photosynthesises.

Question 14

Collenchyma occurs in several forms depending on where the extra wall thickening is deposited. The type in which thickening is confined to the tangential (inner and outer) walls is:

Accepted Answer

Lamellar collenchyma. In lamellar collenchyma the thickening lies on the tangential walls; in angular collenchyma it is at the cell corners, and in lacunar collenchyma it borders the intercellular spaces.

Question 15

Which of the following sets contains ONLY tissues whose cells are dead at functional maturity?

Accepted Answer

Vessels, tracheids, sclerenchyma fibres. Vessels, tracheids and sclerenchyma fibres are all dead, lignified cells. Companion cells, xylem/phloem parenchyma and collenchyma are living, so the other sets are mixed.

Question 16

Read the statements about meristematic tissue: (i) cells have dense cytoplasm and prominent nuclei (ii) cells possess large vacuoles and thick walls (iii) intercellular spaces are absent (iv) cells actively divide. Which combination is correct?

Accepted Answer

(i), (iii) and (iv) only. Meristematic cells are small, thin-walled, densely cytoplasmic with prominent nuclei, lack intercellular spaces and divide continuously. Large vacuoles and thick walls are features of mature cells, so (ii) is wrong.

Question 17

A meristem may be defined as the group of cells which -

Accepted Answer

Divide continuously to give rise to new cells.. Meristematic tissue is defined by its cells' capacity to divide continuously and produce new cells.

Question 18

Maximum growth in root occurs -

Accepted Answer

Behind the apex. The zone of elongation lies just behind the root apex, where cells enlarge most, giving maximum growth there.

Question 19

Which of the following is a well differentiated plant tissue -

Accepted Answer

Parenchyma. Parenchyma is a permanent (differentiated) tissue, whereas apical meristem and cambium are meristematic.

Question 20

The secondary meristem originates from -

Accepted Answer

Primary permanent tissue. Secondary meristems such as cork cambium arise later from already differentiated primary permanent tissues.

The Tissues (Meristematic & Permanent) — NEET Biology MCQs with Solutions

Questions with solutions