LIFE FORMS
Plants exhibit a very broad range in features, some that can be observed without magnification, some that can only be appreciated with substantial magnification, and others that can only be studied using special instrumentation to measure physiological properties. This site will provide information on plant diversity, especially variations in the vegetative plant as they are related to the natural habitat.
To appreciate biodiversity more fully, the following writeups are presented with colored illustrations, obtained from Kodachromes and colored prints. Many of the topics will eventually have many images, only a portion of which will the typical reader ever view. The user is encouraged to consult images as needed to understand the basic property that has been described.
The files for these writeups and images will be posted here gradually, so that some of the topics are not currently online. Visit this site to read the new files that have been posted.
Life Forms and Major Plant Groups
- Ant plants
- Aquatic plants
- Arborescent grasses
- Climbing plants
- Cushion plants
- Desert annuals
- Desert woody perennials
- Epiphytes and hemiepiphytes
- Ferns and other vascular plants that lack seeds
- Geophytes and hemicryptophytes
- Grasses and graminoid plants
- Green-stemmed woody plants
- Gymnosperms
- Halophytes and xerohalophytes
- Herbaceous forbs
- Insectivorous plants
- Legumes
- “Lilies”
- Musoid and zingiberoid monocotyledons
- Palms
- Parasitic plants
- Plants with nitrogen fixation
- Poikilohydric plants
- Rosette monocotyledons
- Saprophytic plants
- Sclerophylls
- Succulents
