Bark water uptake in the mangrove Avicenna marina: pathways, the effects of light and dehydration, and the contribution to stem swelling ARC DP180102969

Many plants access multiple sources of water to maintain hydration, taking up water through both roots and leaves. Yet, little work has been done to investigate the bark as a pathway for water uptake. We investigated pathways for bark water uptake and movement, the effects of light and dehydration on dynamics of bark water uptake, and the contribution of bark water uptake to stem swelling in the mangrove <em>Avicenna marina</em>. This dataset shows that a fluorescent symplastic tracer dye was transported from the bark surface into the inner stem tissues through lenticels. Bark water uptake was not affected by increasing levels of initial dehydration and although bark water uptake occurred under dark conditions, uptake was enhanced in the light. Finally, inner bark and cortex tissues swelled in response to bark water uptake as measured using X-ray micro-computed tomography.