Question

Identify the wrong statement in the context of heartwood.
A. It comprises of dead elements with highly lignified walls
B. Organic compounds are deposited in it
C. It is highly durable
D. It conducts water and minerals efficiently

Answer 1

Hint: Heartwood is the innermost part of the trunk just next to the pith or medulla and it mainly consists of dead cells of sapwood part of the trunk and no activity takes place in dead cells.

Complete answer:
Now if we analyze the part of the tree trunk, we know it is composed of bark, annular rings, sapwood, heartwood and the pith. The sapwood part contains most of the live cells which helps the plant in doing its day to day functions properly. Now as the cells of the sapwood ages and dies they all collectively form the heartwood of the plants.
As learnt above about the composition of the heartwood which is dead cells, these cells have no other function now and the deposition of the lignin has already occurred inside the cells. This makes the option (A) correct and hence we can ignore it.
As a result of the deposition of the lignin the organic compounds of the cell get trapped inside and they cannot function or produce anything due to the deposition of thick lignin layer. Therefore, ignoring option (B) also. The accumulation of these dead cells for many years tends to increase the girth of the plant and we know that the inside part of any plant is the strongest and most durable. This durability is due to the increased girth.
Since the cells which were once functioning properly are now dead, the chemicals and organic residues inside them stay trapped and as a result the cells lose their intercellular communications and therefore stop all the transferring of nutrients. So we can conclude that heartwood does not do any type of conduction of either water and minerals.

Therefore the answer is option (D).

Note:
The conduction of water and other nutrients is taken by xylem and phloem which are located in the sapwood part of the trunk of any plant or tree. And don’t mistake the heartwood part as the living part of the plant thinking that it will not have the dead cells by comparing it to the human heart word and thus concluding your result.