| Xylem | Phloem |
| Tissue. Xylem is water or sap conducing plant tissue. | It is food conducting plant tissue. |
| Living Cells. Xylem has only one type of living cells. | It has three types of living cells. |
| Dead Cells. Xylem has three types of dead cells-fibres, tracheids and vessel elements. | Phloem has only one type of dead cells, i.e., phloem fibres. |
| Conducting Elements. There are two types of conducting elements, tracheids and vessels. | There are only one type of conducting elements, i.e. sieve tubes. |
| Septa. Vessels do not possess septa. | Sieve tubes have porous septa called sieve plates. |
| Metabolic Inhibitors. Conduction is not influenced by metabolic inhibitors like heat, cold or poison. | Conduction is inhibited by heat, cold and poison. |
| Pressure. Transport occurs due to presence of negative pressure. | Transport takes place due to presence of positive pressure |