Herbaceous plant

{{Short description|Plant that has no persistent woody stem above ground}} {{About|botanical herbs|culinary and other herbs|Herb}} [[File:Trientalis borealis 1177.JPG|right|thumb|''Lysimachia latifolia'' (broadleaf starflower) is a perennial herbaceous plant of the ground layer of forests in western North America.]] '''Herbaceous plants''' are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground.<ref>''Flora of the British Isles'', Clapham, Tutin, and Warburg, 2nd edition</ref><ref name="Arteca2014">{{Cite book |last=Richard N. Arteca |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-LkTCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA584 |title=Introduction to the Horticultural Science |date=14 February 2014 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1-111-31279-4 |pages=584–}}</ref> This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Solomon, E.P. |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780534648442_1 |title=Biology |last2=Berg, L.R. |last3=Martin, D.W. |publisher=Brooks/Cole Thomson Learning |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-534-49547-3 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

==Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous"== The fourth edition of the ''Shorter Oxford English Dictionary'' defines "herb" as: # "A plant whose stem does not become woody and persistent (as in a tree or shrub) but remains soft and succulent, and dies (completely or down to the root) after flowering"; # "A (freq. aromatic) plant used for flavouring or scent, in medicine, etc.". (See: Herb)

The same dictionary defines "herbaceous" as: # "Of the nature of a herb; esp. not forming a woody stem but dying down to the root each year"; # "<small>BOTANY</small> Resembling a leaf in colour or texture. Opp. scarious".<ref name="SOED">{{Cite book |title=Shorter Oxford English dictionary on historical principles |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-920687-2 |edition=6th |location=Oxford |pages=1236–1237}}</ref>

Botanical sources differ from each other on the definition of "herb". For instance, the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation includes the condition "when persisting over more than one growing season, the parts of the shoot dying back seasonally".<ref name="Hunt">{{Cite web |title=Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation |url=https://huntbot.org/fnaglossary/search?title_op=contains&title=herb |access-date=11 August 2021 |publisher=Carnegie Mellon University}}</ref> Some orchids, such as species of ''Phalaenopsis'', are described in some sources (including the authoritative Plants of the World Online) as "herbs" but with "leaves persistent or sometimes deciduous".<ref name="China">{{Cite web |title=''Phalaenopsis'' |url=http://efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=124878 |access-date=11 August 2021 |publisher=Flora of China}}</ref><ref name="POWO">{{Cite web |title=''Phalaenopsis'' - General Description |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30326-1 |access-date=11 August 2021 |publisher=Plants of the World Online}}</ref> In the glossary of ''Flora of the Sydney Region'', Roger Charles Carolin defines "herb" as a "plant that does not produce a woody stem", and the adjective "herbaceous" as meaning "herb-like, referring to parts of the plant that are green and soft in texture".<ref name="Carolin">{{Cite book |last1=Carolin |first1=Roger C. |title=Flora of the Sydney region |last2=Tindale |first2=Mary D. |date=1994 |publisher=Reed |isbn=0-73-010400-1 |edition=4th |location=Chatswood, NSW |page=23}}</ref><ref name="RBGS">{{Cite web |title=Glossary of Botanical Terms |url=https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&glossary=yes&alpha=F-H |access-date=8 March 2021 |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Sydney}}</ref>

==Description== Herbaceous plants include graminoids, forbs, and ferns.<ref name="Bebarta2011">{{Cite book |last=Kailash Chandra Bebarta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lOzqQABNkH0C&pg=PA224 |title=Dictionary of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |year=2011 |isbn=978-81-8069-719-7 |pages=224–}}</ref> Forbs are generally defined as herbaceous broad-leafed plants,<ref name="Pond2004">{{Cite book |last=Wilson G. Pond |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1SQl7Ao3mHoC&pg=PA425 |title=Encyclopedia of Animal Science (Print) |date=16 November 2004 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-0-8247-5496-9 |pages=425–}}</ref> while graminoids are plants with grass-like appearance including true grasses, sedges, and rushes.<ref name="GordonPrins2007">{{Cite book |last1=Iain J. Gordon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uGD6omgD2fwC&pg=PA220 |title=The Ecology of Browsing and Grazing |last2=Herbert H.T. Prins |date=14 September 2007 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3-540-72422-3 |pages=220–}}</ref><ref name="ChapmanBolen2015">{{Cite book |last1=Brian R. Chapman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=78bCCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA98 |title=Ecology of North America |last2=Eric G. Bolen |date=31 August 2015 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-118-97154-3 |pages=98–}}</ref>

Herbaceous plants most often are low-growing plants, different from woody plants like trees and shrubs, tending to have soft green stems that lack lignification and their above-ground growth is ephemeral and often seasonal in duration.<ref name="LackEvans2005">{{Cite book |last1=Andrew J. Lack |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=biFOZ3aK8i8C&pg=PA199 |title=Plant Biology |last2=David E. Evans |publisher=Garland Science |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-415-35643-5 |pages=199–}}</ref> By contrast, non-herbaceous vascular plants are woody plants that have stems above ground that remain alive, even during any dormant season, and grow shoots the next year from the above-ground parts – these include trees, shrubs, vines and woody bamboos. Banana plants are also regarded as herbaceous plants because the stem does not contain true woody tissue.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Is A Banana A Fruit Or A Herb? &#124; Lexico |url=https://www.lexico.com/explore/is-a-banana-a-fruit-or-a-herb |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606074210/https://www.lexico.com/explore/is-a-banana-a-fruit-or-a-herb |archive-date=June 6, 2020 |website=Lexico Dictionaries &#124; English}}</ref>

Some herbaceous plants can grow rather large, such as the genus ''Musa'', to which the banana belongs.<ref name="PicqINIB00">{{Cite book |url=http://www.musalit.org/pdf/info09.1_en.pdf |title=Bananas |date=2000 |publisher=International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantains/International Plant Genetic Resources Institute |isbn=978-2-910810-37-5 |editor-last=Picq |editor-first=Claudine |edition=English |location=Montpellier |access-date=2013-01-31 |editor-last2=INIBAP |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130411222515/http://www.musalit.org/pdf/info09.1_en.pdf |archive-date=April 11, 2013 |url-status=dead |name-list-style=amp |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

==Habit and habitat== [[File:Steppe flora, Wild flowers, Rostov-on-Don, Russia.jpg|thumb|240px|A wide variety of herbaceous Poaceae plants in a grassland]] Some relatively fast-growing herbaceous plants (especially annuals) are pioneers, or early-successional species. Others form the main vegetation of many stable habitats, occurring for example in the ground layer of forests, or in naturally open habitats such as meadow, salt marsh or desert. Some habitats, like grasslands and prairies and savannas,<ref name="Osborne2000">{{Cite book |last=Patrick L. Osborne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gA2xfP8hHlEC&pg=PA50 |title=Tropical Ecosystems and Ecological Concepts |date=31 August 2000 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-64523-2 |pages=50–}}</ref> are dominated by herbaceous plants along with aquatic environments like ponds, streams and lakes.

The age of some herbaceous perennial plants can be determined by herbchronology, the analysis of annual growth rings in the secondary root xylem.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hiebert-Giesbrecht |first1=Mickel Randolph |last2=Novelo-Rodríguez |first2=Candelaria Yuseth |last3=Dzib |first3=Gabriel Rolando |last4=Calvo-Irabién |first4=Luz María |last5=Arx |first5=Georg von |last6=Peña-Rodríguez |first6=Luis Manuel |date=2017-11-09 |title=Herb-chronology as a tool for determining the age of perennial forbs in tropical climates |doi-access=free |publisher=Canadian Science Publishing |journal=Botany |language=en |volume=96 |pages=73–78 |doi=10.1139/cjb-2017-0167 |hdl-access=free |hdl=1807/81239}}</ref>

Herbaceous plants do not produce perennializing above-ground structures using lignin, which is a complex phenolic polymer deposited in the secondary cell wall of all vascular plants. The development of lignin during vascular plant evolution provided mechanical strength, rigidity, and hydrophobicity to secondary cell walls creating a woody stem, allowing plants to grow tall and transport water and nutrients over longer distances within the plant body. Since most woody plants are perennials with a longer life cycle because it takes more time and more resources (nutrients and water) to produce persistently living lignified woody stems, they are not as able to colonize open and dry ground as rapidly as herbs.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

The surface of herbs is a catalyst for dew,<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Erell |first=Evyatar |title=Predicting air temperatures in city streets on the basis of measured reference data |date=2005 |degree=PhD thesis |publisher=University of Adelaide, South Australia |url=https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/58698/8/02chapters1-3.pdf |hdl=2440/58698|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003104256/https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/58698/8/02chapters1-3.pdf|archive-date=2020-10-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Xu |first=Yingying |date=2017 |title=A Novel method for monitoring urban dew condensation and its application |journal=Tehnički Vjesnik |volume=24 |issue=5 |doi=10.17559/TV-20170727025640 |doi-access=free}}</ref> which in arid climates and seasons is the main type of precipitation and is necessary for the survival of vegetation,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wang |first=Chengdong |date=2017 |title=Formation and influencing factors of dew in sparse elm woods and grassland in a semi-arid area |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1872203217300914 |journal=Acta Ecologica Sinica |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=125–132 |bibcode=2017AcEcS..37..125W |doi=10.1016/j.chnaes.2017.06.004|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Uclés |first=O |date=2013 |title=Role of dewfall in the water balance of a semiarid coastal steppe ecosystem |journal=Hydrological Processes |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=2271–2280 |doi=10.1002/hyp.9780 |s2cid=55371002}}</ref> i.e. in arid areas, herbaceous plants are a generator of precipitation and the basis of an ecosystem. Most of the water vapor that turns into dew comes from the air, not the soil or clouds.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shiklomanov |date=2004 |title=Experimental research on the role of dew in arid ecosystem of Gobi desert, inner Mongolia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l_ayqXuxfssC&pg=PA329 |journal=Research Basins and Hydrological Planning |isbn=9781439833858}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wen |first=XueFa |date=2011 |title=Dew water isotopic ratios and their relationships to ecosystem water pools and fluxes in a cropland and a grassland in China |journal=Ecosystem Ecology |volume=168 |issue=2 |pages=549–561 |doi=10.1007/s00442-011-2091-0 |pmid=21822725 |s2cid=11954532 |s2cid-access=free |via=Lee Lab |url=https://xleelab.sites.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/wen_dew_f.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240606004702/https://xleelab.sites.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/wen_dew_f.pdf |archive-date= Jun 6, 2024 }}</ref> The taller the herb (surface area is the main factor though), the more dew it produces,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sudmeyer |first=R.A. |date=1994 |title=Measured dewfall and potential condensation on grazed pasture in the Collie River basin, southwestern Australia |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0022169494902208 |journal=Journal of Hydrology |volume=154 |issue=1–4 |pages=255–269 |bibcode=1994JHyd..154..255S |doi=10.1016/0022-1694(94)90220-8|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Xiao |first=H. |date=2009 |title=Effect of vegetation type and growth stage on dewfall, determined with high precision weighing lysimeters at a site in northern Germany |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022169409004806 |journal=Journal of Hydrology |volume=377 |issue=1–2 |pages=43–49 |bibcode=2009JHyd..377...43X |doi=10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.08.006|url-access=subscription }}</ref> so a short cut of the herbs necessitates watering. For example, if you frequently and shortly cut the grass without watering in an arid zone, then desertification occurs.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

==Types of herbaceous plants== Most herbaceous plants have a perennial (85%) life cycle but some are annual (15%) or biennial (<1%).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Poppenwimer |first1=Tyler |last2=Mayrose |first2=Itay |last3=DeMalach |first3=Niv |date=December 2023 |title=Revising the global biogeography of annual and perennial plants |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=624 |issue=7990 |pages=109–114 |arxiv=2304.13101 |bibcode=2023Natur.624..109P |doi=10.1038/s41586-023-06644-x |issn=1476-4687 |pmc=10830411 |pmid=37938778}}</ref> Annual plants die completely at the end of the growing season or when they have flowered and fruited, and then new plants grow from seed.<ref>Levine, Carol. 1995. ''A guide to wildflowers in winter: herbaceous plants of northeastern North America''. New Haven: Yale University Press. page 1.</ref> Herbaceous perennial and biennial plants may have stems that die at the end of the growing season, but parts of the plant survive under or close to the ground from season to season (for biennials, until the next growing season, when they grow and flower again, then die).{{cn|date=June 2024}}

New growth can also develop from living tissues remaining on or under the ground, including roots, a caudex (a thickened portion of the stem at ground level) or various types of underground stems, such as bulbs, corms, stolons, rhizomes and tubers. Examples of herbaceous biennials include carrot, parsnip and common ragwort; herbaceous perennials include potato, peony, hosta, mint, most ferns and most grasses.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-04-02 |title=Herbaceous Plants Examples |url=https://biologydictionary.net/herbaceous-plants-examples/ |access-date=2022-04-30 |website=Biology Dictionary |language=en-US}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

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Category:Plant morphology Category:Plants by habit Category:Plant life-forms