How do plants breathe with their roots under mud and water? Aerenchyma cells build air tunnels right through the plant!
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Aerenchyma is plant tissue full of big air spaces. Thin chains of living cells make the walls of the spaces, a bit like the frame of a honeycomb.
You can find it in plants that grow in wet places, like rice, water lilies, and lotus. Some plants make more air spaces when their roots get flooded.
If you slice a lotus root, you can see big holes running through it. Those are giant air tunnels!
Roots need air too, but muddy water has very little of it. The air spaces link up into tunnels, so air from the leaves can travel all the way down to the roots.
All that trapped air also makes leaves and stems lighter, which helps water plants like lily pads float.
Press Send air down on the 3D model to watch air travel through the tunnels.
By Nguzo Babies with Ms. Ashley. A fun video for kids.
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