Transpiration operates by suction, but leaves are especially liable to damage by grazing, mechanical forces, and extreme negative pressures in the xylem water column due to high rates of transpiration. Leaf vessels therefore need special protection against air embolisms spreading in the vessel network that would block liquid flow. This is achieved at all points in the leaf distal to the node (i.e. petiole, large veins, small veins) by the vessels being very short. That is, files of vessel elements joined to make a single pipe with a terminal end-wall are much shorter in the leaf than in the rest of the plant. Water flows through vessel end-walls with little extra resistance, but an air–water interface cannot be pulled through an end-wall or pit membrane because the pores are so small. The force needed to curve the interface into a meniscus small enough to pass through the end-wall is similar to that generated by evaporation from wet cell walls (Section 3.1.3). From equation (4), (DP = 0.15/r) we see that a pressure of roughly 0.3/d (MPa) is required to pull the interface through a hole of diameter d (µm). While 0.1 MPa can pull an interface through a 3 µm hole, 6 MPa is required to pull air through a 0.05 µm hole. Suctions of 6 MPa are not known to occur in transpiring plants, and cell walls have pores much smaller than 0.05 µm - in the order of 0.003 µm. So an embolism formed from cavitating water fills one vessel but does not spread beyond it.
The length of xylem vessels is demonstrated by allowing a leaf to transpire in a fine colloidal suspension that cannot pass end-walls. Latex paint, diluted 100 times with water and allowed to settle for a week or two, provides such a suspension. Leaves that have drawn up this suspension for an hour or so during transpiration can be cleared by dissolving out the chlorophyll and soaking in lactic acid. Progress of the paint is then readily seen (Figure 3.28). Very few vessels exceed 1 cm in length.
