Collenchyma is plastic, but sclerenchyma is elastic. What does “elastic” mean? If you stretch or deform an elastic object, will it keep its new shape or snap back to its original shape? As an organ grows, its shape changes, but after it has achieved its mature size and shape, what kind of things would deform it? Should a mature organ have plastic properties or elastic ones (e.g., if a heavy load of snow bends a branch down, should the branch stay in its bent shape when the snow melts or should it go back to the shape it grew to before the snow)?