How do plants breathe?

Plants need oxygen, just as we do, to carry on the life processes of their cells. But the method a plant uses is so different from our breathing process that we give it a different name. In plants, we call it respiration. However, in both animal breathing and plant respiration, oxygen is used as a fuel to release energy.

Air seeps into the plant through tiny pores called stomata in the leaves and stems. Inside the cells, some of the oxygen in this air meets and combines with plant sugar. Energy is given off in the process and some of the oxygen and sugar are converted into carbon dioxide and water. The waste carbon dioxide seeps out again through the same stomata, along with water in the form of vapor.