Plants have naturally evolved complex cell wall structures to give mechanical and friction properties that facilitate plant growth and development. A biomimetic approach is employed to gain insight into how plants are able to lubricate moving surfaces at multiple length scales. The outcomes of this study advance the fundamental scientific understanding of plant cell wall biology.New insights provided here may have significant implications for optimising the value of plant material as a food source, biofuel precursor, and as a model for functional biomaterial design, particularly for medical applications. A review of the plant cell wall structure, mechanics, and extension processes is used to identify the forces and tribological contacts that are relevant for plant growth. Plant cell walls are essentially hydrogel composites of cellulose fibres within a matrix of biopolymers (e.g. hemicelluloses, pectin) and water. Plant tissue is comprised of a cluster of plant cells where adjacent cell walls are mediated by a pectin rich middle lamella layer. Plant growth is initiated by expansins which are proteins that disrupt cellulose fibre contact points, leading to the extension of the cell wall matrix. As cells expand within the tissue structure, a sliding contact forms between adjacent walls that are extending at different rates. The two critical length scales that are considered here to influence plant growth are the contact between cellulose nano-fibres in the cell wall matrix, and the sliding interface between adjacent cell walls.A large component of this thesis is the development of techniques to mimic the two tribological contacts; that is, fibre-fibre and cell-cell interactions. The sliding interface between two surfaces is achieved using a rotational rheometer, which also allows in situ material characterisation of the surfaces with pre-compression, relaxation, and oscillatory shear mechanical testing steps. The interactive forces between nano-fibres are measured directly using an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) tip to laterally pull fibres out of a network. Bacterial cellulose networks are used as a model system that is compatible with the developed techniques. Bacterial cellulose is a good model because of the structural similarity to plant cellulose, and its ability to grow as a self-assembled random fibre network with the shape and dimensions controlled by the vessel within which it is grown. The lubricating role of individual cell wall components at the two tribological contacts is examined; including arabinoxylan (AX), xyloglucan (XG), pectin, and expansins. This is achieved ii by growing composite bacterial cellulose networks with AX and XG, and by adding pectin or expansin solutions to the liquid medium surrounding the pre-formed cellulose networks during testing.The unique aspect of this mechanical study is that the experimental results are analysed using computation modelling. Appropriate models are used to simulate the behaviour of fibrous assemblies at multiple length scales, and under condition...