The correct characteristic of arteries among the options provided is:
Arteries transport blood from the heart to the tissues.
Arteries carry oxygenated blood away from the heart to the body's tissues (with the exception of the pulmonary arteries, which carry deoxygenated blood to the lungs).
The other options are not characteristics of arteries:
- Arteries are not the smallest vessels; capillaries are the smallest.
- Arteries have walls that are thicker than one cell; they consist of multiple layers of muscle and elastic tissue.
- Arteries do not have valves; that characteristic is associated more with veins, which have valves to prevent backflow of blood.