Spot the frippet: xylem

Yes, yes, I only chose this word because it begins with an x.

Well, it's a first for The Word Den. And you must admit the x thing is really neat.

Anyway, xylem.  This is the magical stuff inside a plant which sucks up water and minerals.
It also confers a certain stiffness which stops oak trees, for instance, flopping over on our heads, thus avoiding a great deal of alarm and, as the lawyers say, despondency.

Basically, then, xylem is more or less the same stuff as wood. Only with friskier letters.

Don't forget, when you're spotting-the-frippet, that some fabrics (like viscose and linen) are made from xylem; as are, of course, the pages of every book, as well as many wallpapers.
In fact it will be more of a challenge to try to find a place where you can't spot anything derived from xylem.*


Try Not To Spot the Frippet: xylem. This word has been pinched from the Greeks, whose word for wood was xulon.

*I think in this instance going out at night would be cheating.