Scientists Solve 100-Year-Old Mystery About How Plants Took Root in Land

A team of scientists, led by researchers at Yale University, think they have figured out why land plants evolved such complex systems.

The first land plants were very simple to grow.

The insides of their roots and stems looked like bundles of straws, which pulled in water and minerals from the surrounding environment.

Around 400 million years ago, this straightforward system for sucking up water began to change in shape and size.

Scientists didn't know why evolution favored the more intricate interiors for close to 100 years.

The authors think that a lack of water may have shaped the inside of plants.

The first land plants were moss-like in form. They were limited to areas with plentiful water because they did not have root systems.

The very first vascular plants were just centimetres tall and limited to the wettest environments.One of the problems they had to solve to break out of this niche was how to keep water transport through their xylem from being blocked by embolism during drought.

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