BIO421L | GENERAL BOTANY LAB - Forms of Plants

A set of vocabulary flashcards defining plant strategies, life stages, and structural forms as described in the General Botany Lab lecture notes.

Plant Strategies

Mechanisms and responses that plants use in order to reproduce, defend, survive, and compete on the landscape.

Evergreen

Plants that have green leaves all throughout the year and can survive different changes of climate and weather, such as gymnosperms and Acacia.

Deciduous

Plants that shed their leaves, usually as an adaptation to changes in climate such as cold or dry/wet seasons, for example Quercus sp.

Annuals

Plants that complete their life cycles in a single year, such as Helianthus annuus, Zea mays, and Oryza sativa.

Biennials

Plants whose life cycles last $2$ years; they typically have vegetative growth in the first year and proceed to flowering and fruiting in the second year before dying.

Perennials

Plants whose life cycles last more than $2$ years ($3+$ years), with multiple cycles of flowering and fruiting, such as Hibiscus rosa-sinensis and Musa sp.

Trees

Large, woody plants having secondary branches supported on a main stem or trunk.

Shrubs or Bushes

Smaller, woody plants characterized by having multiple stems.

Vines

Herbaceous or woody plants with a climbing or twining stem.

Forbs

Herbaceous broad-leaves plants often with showy flowers.

Grasses

Herbaceous plants with slender blades and inconspicuous flowers that are often windborne or wind-pollinated.

Aquatic Plants

Generally herbaceous plants that grow partly or wholly in the water, either submerged or floating on top of the water system.