Perennial plant
This article is about plants which come back each year. Perennial, which means "yearly", can also be used as a term for a subject which does something regularly or with seeming inevitability, as in "he's a perennial loser".A
perennial plant or
perennial (
Latin per, "through",
annus, "year") is a
plant that lives for more than two
years.
Herbaceous perennials are plants that do not form
woody tissue and
woody perennials are plants that develop a woody base or root system from which the foliage and flower stems grow. The term perennial more commonly describes herbaceous perennials, since
woody plants (i.e.,
trees and
shrubs) are always perennials. Perennials that flower and fruit only once and then die are termed
monocarpic or
semelparous. However, most perennials are
polycarpic, flowering over many seasons in their lifetime.
In warmer and more clement
climates, perennials grow continuously. In seasonal climates, their growth is limited to the growing season. For example, in temperate regions a perennial plant may grow and bloom during the warm part of the year, with the foliage dying back in the winter. These plants are
deciduous perennials. Regrowth is from existing stem tissue. In many parts of the world, seasonality is expressed as wet and dry periods rather than warm and cold periods. In some species, perennials retain their foliage all year round; these are
evergreen perennials.
With their roots protected below ground in the soil layer, perennial plants are notably tolerant of
wildfire. They are also less subject to extremes of cold in temperate and arctic winters, with less sensitivity than trees or shrubs.
Perennial plants dominate many natural
ecosystems on land and in fresh water, with only a very few (e.g.
Zostera) occurring in shallow sea water. They are particularly dominant in conditions too fire-prone for trees and shrubs, e.g., most plants on
prairies and
steppes are perennials; they are also dominant on
tundra too cold for tree growth. In
forests, perennial plants are of secondary importance to trees and shrubs, but are often still abundant on the forest floor.
Perennial plants are usually better competitors than annual plants, especially under stable, resource-poor conditions. This is due to the development of larger
root systems which can access water and soil nutrients deeper in the soil and to earlier emergence in the spring.
Examples of evergreen perennials include
Begonia and
banana.
Examples of deciduous perennials include
goldenrod and
mint.
Examples of monocarpic perennials include
Agave and some species of
Streptocarpus.
*
Annual plant*
Biennial plant*
Perennial Tea Ceremony*
Plant life cycles*
USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map
