Take a beaker (jar or jug) with some water and put some drops of red or blue ink in it. Take a tender twig of any flowery plant with leaves and flowers ,preferably white flowers, and put it in the beaker for 6 to 8 hours. What do you observe?For further examination cut across its stem and look for the presence of coloured water. Explain your observations.

After about 6 to 8 hours, the white flowers begins to develop red spots near the edge of the petals.

When the stems were cut, coloured water was observed along the length of the stem.

Explanation:

In the experiment, red ink was placed in the beaker of water and a red-coloured water was obtained. Then the tender twig of a flowery plant (e.g. carnation) with leaves and white flowers was placed in the beaker. After about 6 to 8 hours, the white flowers began to develop red spots near the edge of the petals. When the stems were cut, coloured water was observed along the length of the stem. The observations in this experiment is due to the fact that the stem conducted the water and the ink through the xylem up to the leaves. On getting to the leaves, the water evaporates from the leaves in a process known as transpiration leaving behind the red ink. This ink then appears as the red spots on the leaves.

The process of transpiration in the leaves results in the continuous conduction of water from the stem to leaves, and hence, the appearance of more coloured spots with time.