Plant Life Span

Life Span

Based on life span plants are classified into 3 types. They are annual, biennial and perennial

I.  Annual (Therophyte or Ephemerals)

A plant that completes its life cycle in one growing season. Example: Peas, maize, water melon, groundnut, sunflower, rice and so on.

II.  Biennial

A plant that lives for two seasons, growing vegetatively during the first season and flowering and fruiting during the second season. Example: Onion, Lettuce, Fennel, Carrot, Radish, Cabbage and Spinach.

III.  Perennial (Geophyte)

A plant that grows for many years that flowers and set fruits for several seasons during the life span. When they bear fruits every year, they are called polycarpic. Example: mango, sapota. Some plants produce flowers and fruits only once and die after a vegetative growth of several years. These plants are called monocarpic. Example: Bamboo, Agave, Musa, Talipot palm.