Phloem conducts food from leaf to stems and roots.

• A. Transports water from roots to leaves.
• B. Conducts minerals from soil to leaves.
• C. Stores sugars.
• D. Conducts food from leaf to stems and roots.

Answer: (D)

The key idea is that plants have two vascular tissues with distinct transport roles: xylem and phloem. Phloem is responsible for moving organic nutrients, mainly sugars like sucrose, from photosynthesizing leaves (sources) to other parts of the plant that need them or store them (sinks), such as stems and roots. This movement, called translocation, can go in multiple directions depending on where the sugars are needed, driven by source–sink relationships and pressure-driven flow through sieve-tube elements with support from companion cells.

So the statement that phloem conducts food from leaf to stems and roots aligns with phloem’s true function. In contrast, transporting water and minerals from roots to leaves is the job of xylem, and storing sugars isn’t the primary role of phloem; storage occurs mainly in other tissues like parenchyma.