suffrutex pl. suffrutices |
= subshrub, undershrub |
nominative |
plant |
Of shrub-like form but with only the base woody, bearing herbaceous branches that die back at the end of each growing season. See also bush, frutex (shrub), tree, woody clump. |
hard-stemmed |
= sclerocaulous |
texture |
plant |
Having hard, relatively dry, but essentially herbaceous main stems that contain a significant proportion of sclerotic tissue or fibers. |
viny |
> lianous |
habit |
plant |
Having elongate, herbaceous or ligneous stems that are flexible at least initially and that clamber, climb or trail. |
floating 1 |
|
habit |
plant |
Buoyant and growing entirely at or near the surface of water, not rooted in any substrate. |
vegetative |
< apomictic, asexual |
reproduction |
plant |
Producing new plants asexually by proliferation or fragmentation of sterile tissue, without formation of embryos (or seeds). The logical antecedent of this term is "reproduction," not the taxon in point or "plants," and syntax should be governed accordingly. Whenever this mode of reproduction is noted, the relevant propagative structures should be identified. |
herb |
|
nominative |
plant |
Annual, biennial, or perennial with no woody (lignified) tissue in any part of the shoot; when persisting over more than one growing season, the parts of the shoot dying back seasonally. |
deciduous 2 |
|
habit |
plant |
Perennial and having all leaves separating and falling away during a particular portion of the yearly cycle, especially the autumn or the dry season, between growing seasons. Semantically, this term is properly applied only to the entity that falls, not to the structure that it separates and falls from; in traditional usage, though, the term has been applied to trees and other perennial plants that shed all their leaves at some time during the yearly cycle. |
suffruticose |
< subshrubby |
habit |
plant |
Having the character of a suffrutex (subshrub, undershrub). See also arboreous, arborescent, bushy, frutescent, fruticose, shrubby, suffrutescent, woody-clumping. |
sarmentose |
= runnering, stoloniferous |
architecture |
plant |
Producing stolons (runners), by means of which it propagates vegetatively. |
amphibious |
|
habit |
plant |
Able to live in either aquatic or terrestrial habitats; e.g., adapted to periodic inundation on floodplains. |
herbaceous 1 |
|
habit |
plant |
Having no significant degree of secondary growth in any part of the shoot, which thus does not develop woody (lignified) tissue. |
perennial 1 |
|
duration |
plant |
Normally living more than two years, with no definite limit to its life span. |
amphicarpic |
= amphicarpous |
architecture |
plant |
Producing two morphologically or phenologically different types of fruit. |
epiphytic |
|
habit |
plant |
Physically supported in its entirety by another plant through all or the major part of its life. |
acaulous |
= stemless |
architecture |
plant |
Lacking any evident, elongate, aboveground stem, other than reproductive axes, at maturity, the leaves and/or reproductive axes arising essentially at substrate level from a very short axis with highly congested nodes. |
winter annual |
|
nominative |
plant |
Annual, germinating in autumn, overwintering in a vegetative state (usually as a rosette aboveground), reproducing sexually from early spring through summer, and dying promptly thereafter. See also summer annual. |
perennial 2 |
|
nominative |
plant |
Of perennial duration. |
amphicarpous |
= amphicarpic |
architecture |
plant |
Producing two morphologically or phenologically different types of fruit. |
microphyllous |
|
architecture |
plant |
Bearing microphylls. |
symbiotic |
|
nutrition |
plant |
Partially dependent for essential nourishment upon other living organisms that derive some reciprocal benefit from the relationship. |
stemless |
= acaulous |
architecture |
plant |
Lacking any evident, elongate, aboveground stem, other than reproductive axes, at maturity, the leaves and/or reproductive axes arising essentially at substrate level from a very short axis with highly congested nodes. |
stemmed |
= caulescent |
architecture |
plant |
Having at maturity an evident, elongate, aboveground stem or stems from which branches, leaves, and/or reproductive axes arise at one or more levels along its length. |
summer annual |
|
nominative |
plant |
Annual, germinating in spring or early summer, reproducing sexually with no prolonged vegetative stage beforehand, and dying by late summer or autumn. See also winter annual. |
knee-rooted |
|
architecture |
plant |
Having knee roots. |
heteroblastic |
< heteromorphic |
architecture |
plant |
Having juvenile and mature leaves that differ distinctly in size and/or shape. |