Tracheid: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Tracheids are long tubular cells in the wooden parts of plants. Their function is to conduct water from the roots to the upper parts of the plants.

Tracheids are located in the xylem, along with wood vessels. They are the most important water-conducting vessels in seedless vascular plants and in gymnosperms.

In angiosperms (flowering plants), the wood vessels have largely taken over the function of conducting water.

The presence of tracheids (and other water-conducting cells) is the defining characteristic of vascular plants to differentiate them from non-vascular plants.