The dead cells that act as "straws" inside the plant to pull water and nutrients from the soil is

The dead cells that act as "straws" inside the plant to pull water and nutrients from the soil is known as xylem.

Xylem is the vascular tissue in plants that conducts water and dissolved nutrients upward from the root and also helps to form the woody element in the stem.                                                    

halogen, any of the six nonmetallic elements that constitute group 17 (group viia) of the periodic table. the halogen elements are fluorine (f), chlorine (cl), bromine (br), iodine (i), astatine (at), and tennessine (ts).