C
CraftExam
medium importancemedium difficulty5 min

Excretion in plants

Excretion in plants is the removal or storage of waste substances produced during life processes.

In one line: Plants store, release, or shed wastes.

Practice This Concept

Understand it

Plants do not have special excretory organs like animals. They remove wastes by storing them in vacuoles, leaves, bark, fruits, or by releasing gases and water vapour. Some wastes are also dropped when leaves, bark, or fruits fall off.

Example

A plant may store resins or gums in old tissues, and oxygen from photosynthesis may leave through stomata.

Rule to remember

Rule: Plant wastes are usually stored, diffused out, or shed with plant parts.

See it worked out

Follow the example line by line, then use the same method on new questions.

Worked example

  1. 1A neem tree may store some waste in leaves and bark.
  2. 2When old leaves fall, those wastes are removed from the plant.

Method you can reuse

  1. 1State that plants produce wastes.
  2. 2Mention storage sites.
  3. 3Mention release through stomata or lenticels.
  4. 4Add leaf fall or bark shedding.
  5. 5Conclude with no special organ needed.

Visual tip

A simple flow diagram can show wastes moving to leaves, bark, vacuoles, or escaping through stomata.

Check yourself

Answer the question in your head before opening the answer.

Try it yourself

How do plants often get rid of wastes stored in old leaves or bark?

Think first, then show answer
Plants often get rid of such wastes by shedding old leaves, bark, or fruits, so the stored waste leaves the plant body.

Common wrong answer

Plants do not produce wastes.

Why it loses marks: Plants do produce wastes, but they remove them differently from animals.

Don't mix this up

Students think plants have no waste products at all.

Exam tip

Mention storage, diffusion, leaf fall, and release through stomata in your answer.

Write it in the exam

Each point is worth about one mark. Write point 1 for a 1-mark question and keep adding points as the marks go up.

How CBSE asks it

Explain how plants excrete, list methods of waste removal, or compare plant excretion with human excretion.
  1. 1

    Enough for 1 mark

    Excretion in plants is the removal or storage of waste substances produced during life processes.

  2. 2

    Add for 2 marks

    Example: A plant may store resins or gums in old tissues, and oxygen from photosynthesis may leave through stomata.

  3. 3

    Add for 3 marks

    Plants do not have special excretory organs like animals.

MCQ Quiz

Practice this concept with focused MCQs

Open the concept quiz intro first, review the test details, and then start a focused MCQ set from this concept only. Instant score and answer review are live now.

10 MCQs5 MinutesInstant Results
Practice This Concept

Help improve this page

Found something confusing, incorrect, or missing?

Practice This Concept