tracheid, in botany,primitive element ofxylem (fluid-conducting tissues), consisting of a single elongatedcell with pointed ends and a secondary, cellulosic wall thickened withlignin (a chemical binding substance) containing numerous pits but having no perforations in the primarycell wall. At functional maturity, the cell is dead and empty; its former protoplast is represented, if at all, by a warty layer on the wall. Tracheids serve for support and for upward conduction of water and dissolved minerals in all vascular plants and are the only such elements in conifers and ferns.See alsovessel.