Data from: An alternative water transport system in land plants

The evolution of vascular tissue is a key innovation enabling plants to inhabit terrestrial environments. Here, we demonstrate extra-vascular water transport in a giant, prop-rooted monocot from Lord Howe Island. Pandanus forsteri (Pandanaceae) produces gutter-like leaves that capture rainwater, which is then couriered along a network of channels to the tips of aerial roots, where it is stored by absorptive tissue. This passive mechanism of water acquisition, transport, and storage is critical to the growth of aerial prop roots that cannot yet attain water via vascular conduction. This species therefore sheds light on the elaborate means by which plants have evolved to attain water.维管组织（vascular tissue）的演化是植物得以适应陆生环境的关键创新。本研究证实了来自豪勋爵岛（Lord Howe Island）的一种大型具支柱根单子叶植物存在维管外输水（extra-vascular water transport）现象。福斯特露兜树（Pandanus forsteri，露兜树科（Pandanaceae））长有沟槽状叶片以收集雨水，随后雨水会沿通道网络被输送至气生根（aerial roots）顶端，并由吸收组织（absorptive tissue）储存于此。这种兼具水分获取、运输与储存功能的被动输水机制，对于尚未通过维管传导获取水分的气生支柱根的生长至关重要。因此，该物种为揭示植物演化出的精巧水分获取策略提供了重要参考。