Plant Growth Forms

The below describes the various ‘growth forms’ described in the grovia species list.

*Growth forms denoted with an asterisk do not produce seeds and hence seeds are not available to request

Climber

Plant that climbs up another plant’s stem or branches, rather than being able to support itself. Term used only if datasets do not specify if a climbing plant is herbaceous (a vine) or woody (a liana).

Fern*

A taxonomic grouping that includes acaulescent ferns; ferns are vascular plants that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers.

Geophyte*

Subcategory of herb, specifically referring to plants that survive the winter/dry season as an organ (rhizome, bulb, corm or tuber) buried in dry soil, with all leaves dying back each year.

Graminoid

Herbaceous plant with a grass-like morphology that is within the order Poales. Taxa both with and without a tussock form are mapped to this term.

This term is most frequently applied to three large monocot families, Poaceae, Cyperaceae and Juncaceae, but the term could apply to other taxa within Poales with a grass-like morphology, including narrow, linear leaves and non-showy flowers, including Restionaceae, Centrolepidaceae, Anarthriaceae and Ecdeiocoleaceae. Taxa outside Poales with a grass-like morphology should be designated as ‘herbs’.

Herb

A seed-bearing plant which does not have a woody above-ground stem; when available this term has been divided into more detailed terms.

Herbaceous climber

Herbaceous plant that climbs up another plant’s stem or branches, rather than being able to support itself. This is usually synonymous with ‘vine’.

Large basal

A plant whose leaves form a distinctly large basal tuft or rosette, including large acaulescent monocots and cycads.

Lycophyte*

A taxonomic grouping that includes quillworts, clubmosses and spike mosses.

Mallee

Refers to Eucalyptus species which are small trees that form a large lignotuber. They have multiple stems arising at or near ground level and regenerate from the lignotuber following fire.

Non-tussock graminoid

A subcategory of graminoid, indicating a plant which explicitly lacks a tussock morphology, with the leaves not growing in tufts.

Palmoid

Plant that bears a rosette-like canopy of typically large, often compound leaves atop a usually thick (pachycaulous), columnar, unbranched or little-branched stem. Palms, tree ferns*, trunked cycads, trunked grass-trees and Pandanus are mapped to this term.

Shrub

A woody plant that is distinguished by not being a tree, owing to one of more of the following characteristics: (1) they are less than 8 m in height; (2) if a plant community includes trees, the shrubs are shorter than the surrounding trees and not part of the canopy; (3) in comparison to trees, the leaves are more distributed along the entire trunk; (4) the plant has multiple relatively narrow stems arising at or near ground level. The definition of ‘shrub’ is complex, as there are many single-stemmed shrubs within Australia and many taxa that are described in the taxonomic literature as a shrub or small tree.

Subshrub

A plant that is only woody at the base, with the remainder of the stems regenerating yearly. This term is not meant to encompass short-lived plants that are only borderline woody.

Tree

A tall, woody, perennial plant, usually with a single main trunk, and its leaves predominantly elevated above the ground surface.

Tussock

A subcategory of graminoid, which is a plant where many shoots from the basal meristem form prominent tufts.

Woody climber

Woody or thick-stemmed (>2 cm) plant that climbs up another plant’s stem or branches, rather than being Liana able to support itself. This is usually synonymous with ‘liana’.