Question

How do plants get rid of their excretory products?

Answer 1

Hint: Movement of various substances in plants take place with the help of xylem and phloem. These substances get transported to all parts of plants including storage organs, later the substances are re-transported from storage to other organs.

Complete Answer:
Excretion in plants takes place mainly by transpiration and guttation because the plant does not have specialized excretory organs for excretion of waste. Excretion of the waste product like carbon dioxide, oxygen, and water excreted out through stomata and lenticel. An organic waste product in the plant gets stored inside the leaves and bark when this part is shed off after senescence then also excretion takes place in the plant. The formation of resin and gums are also due to the secretion of plant waste products.

Additional information: In plants, the movement of substances over short distance takes place by diffusion and osmosis whereas long-distance transport takes place with the help of translocation.
In the diffusion movement of water and mineral ions take place from higher concentration to lower concentration. It is common between root and soil where root absorbs water and minerals from soil by diffusion. Another example of diffusion includes the exchange of gases in stomata and transpiration from the aerial part of the plant.
Osmosis takes place in the semipermeable membrane where the movement of water takes place from higher concentration to lower concentration. Osmosis helps to maintain the turgidity of plant organs which protects the plant from drought and frost. In the case of improper water movement cell organelles like mitochondria and chloroplast collapse and cell die.
Translocation mainly takes place in a phloem where the synthesis of carbohydrates takes place through photosynthesis. It takes place from high concentration to lower concentration, a high amount of substance gets translocated in this process therefore it is also called a Mass Flow Hypothesis.

Note: Excretion and egestion both word use in case of the removal of the excretory product, but excretion leads to the removal of toxic substances and waste product from metabolism whereas egestion leads to the removal of undigested food products in the case of animals.