Which of the following tissue helps in increasing the girth of the plant?
A) Parenchyma
B) Collenchyma
C) Lateral meristem
D) Sclerenchyma

Hint: Girth is measured as the distance around a tree’s trunk, which is measured perpendicular to the trunk’s axis. In order words, it is the diameter of the tree’s trunk.

Complete answer:
Secondary growth of a plant refers to an increase in thickness or girth of the plant. It is caused by cell division in the lateral meristem. Herbaceous plants usually experience primary growth, with very little secondary growth.

Option A: Parenchyma is typically composed of thin-walled, structurally unspecialized and therefore adaptable to various functions, type of living cells. Therefore, this is the incorrect option.

Option B: Collenchyma supports the tissue of living elongated cells with irregular cell walls. In their cell walls, collenchyma cells have thick deposits of cellulose, and appear polygonal cross-sectionally. Therefore, this is the incorrect option.

Option C: Lateral meristem (Secondary meristem) - It is one of the two meristems, i.e., the cork cambium and the vascular cambium, in all the vascular plants, in which the secondary growth occurs, resulting in the increase of the stem girth. Therefore, this is the correct option.

Option D) Sclerenchyma - Sclerenchyma supports the tissues which are made up of any type of hard woody cells. All the mature sclerenchyma cells are mostly dead cells. They have extremely thick secondary walls, which contain Lignin. Therefore, this is the incorrect option.

Thus, the correct option is C) Lateral meristem.

Note:The tissues of a plant are organized into three tissue systems: the dermal tissue system, the ground tissue system, and the vascular tissue system. Secondary growth, or “wood”, is quite visible in woody plants. Although, it occurs only in some dicotyledons; and very rarely in monocotyledons.