Growth Habits Codes and Definitions

PLANTS Growth Habit Code	PLANTS Description	PLANTS Definition	Notes
FB	Forb/herb	Vascular plant without significant woody tissue above or at the ground. Forbs and herbs may be annual, biennial, or perennial but always lack significant thickening by secondary woody growth and have perennating buds borne at or below the ground surface. In PLANTS, graminoids are excluded but ferns, horsetails, lycopods, and whisk-ferns are included.	Applies to vascular plants only. Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) definition includes graminoids, forbs, and ferns.
GR	Graminoid	Grass or grass-like plant, including grasses (Poaceae), sedges (Cyperaceae), rushes (Juncaceae), arrow-grasses (Juncaginaceae), and quillworts (Isoetes).	Applies to vascular plants only. An herb in the FGDC classification.
LC	Lichenous	Organism generally recognized as a single "plant" that consists of a fungus and an alga or cyanobacterium living in symbiotic association. Often attached to solid objects such as rocks or living or dead wood rather than soil.	Applies to lichens only, which are not true plants.
LI	Liana	Climbing plant found in tropical forests with long, woody rope-like stems of anomalous anatomical structure.	Applies to vascular plants only. In PLANTS, mutually exclusive with VI (Vine). A shrub in the FGDC classification.
NP	Nonvascular	Nonvascular, terrestrial green plant, including mosses, hornworts, and liverworts. Always herbaceous, often attached to solid objects such as rocks or living or dead wood rather than soil.	Applies to non-vascular plants only; in PLANTS system this is groups HN (Hornworts), LV (Liverworts), and MS (Mosses).
SH	Shrub	Perennial, multi-stemmed woody plant that is usually less than 4 to 5 meters (13 to 16 feet) in height. Shrubs typically have several stems arising from or near the ground, but may be taller than 5 meters or single-stemmed under certain environmental conditions.	Applies to vascular plants only.
SS	Subshrub	Low-growing shrub usually under 0.5 m (1.5 feet) tall, never exceeding 1 meter (3 feet) tall at maturity.	Applies to vascular plants only. A dwarf-shrub in the FGDC classification.
TR	Tree	Perennial, woody plant with a single stem (trunk), normally greater than 4 to 5 meters (13 to 16 feet) in height; under certain environmental conditions, some tree species may develop a multi-stemmed or short growth form (less than 4 meters or 13 feet in height).	Applies to vascular plants only.
UN	Unknown	Growth form is unknown.
VI	Vine	Twining/climbing plant with relatively long stems, can be woody or herbaceous.	Applies to vascular plants only. In PLANTS, mutually exclusive with LI (Liana). FGDC classification considers woody vines to be shrubs and herbaceous vines to be herbs.