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Concept
Herbaceous plant
Summary
Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials.
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";
"BOTANY Resembling a leaf in colour or texture. Opp. scarious".
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". 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". 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".
Herbaceous plants include graminoids, forbs, and ferns. Forbs are generally defined as herbaceous broad-leafed plants, while graminoids are plants with grass-like appearance including true grasses, sedges, and rushes.
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. 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.
Official source
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