In plants, the tissue of unspecialized cells lying between the epidermis (surface cells) and the vascular, or conducting, tissues (see phloem and xylem ) of stems and roots.
Cortical cells may contain stored food or other substances, such as latex , essential oils , and tannins. Cortical cells in herbaceous stems, young woody stems, and stems of succulents contain chloroplasts and can therefore make food by photosynthesis . Food, usually in the form of starch, in edible roots, {{link=bulb">bulbs , and tubers is stored mostly in the cortex.