Shrub = any plant that gathers leaves, walmart bags or fast food cups and keeps them for your yard cleaning leisure. James Waddick <jwaddick@kc.rr.com> wrote: > So what >differentiates a shrub from other perennials? I noticed some authors >by-pass this problem by calling certain plants "sub-shrubs." Dear Friends, Although others have commented I think the basic question remains untouched. Marguerite, you are mixing multiple categories. 1. Shrub is not an alternate to perennial. Botanically speaking...... As John Grimshaw explained a 'shrub' is woody plant including trees and some vines. A perennial is a plant that lives for 2 or more seasons and usually blooms annually. 2. There is also a horticultural vocabulary being mixed up here. A horticultural shrub can be anything that makes a small compact 'bush of foliage and flowers. These can be woody such as a lilac or rose or herbaceous such as a peony. Horticulturally a perennial is herbaceous and deciduous (mostly) and can be bulbs, a true herbaceous plant even some woody ( or nearly so) plants. So Phygelius is often a woody plant that is grown as a perennial 'in some climates'. It can get shrubby looking. Yucca is a woody plant that looks shrubby. An important distinction is that tropical plants may flaunt these rules and temperate relatives of tropical plants can 'behave' like something else. And some plants don't fit very well into boxes. Succulents are especially tricky. Cacti are perennials, but 'tree cacti' are not generally considered 'woody' plants. Same for tree Dracena, Euphorbia etc. Yucca, Aloe, Hawarthia can reach good size, but size alone does not make a plant woody or shrubby - tree dahlia, Arundo donax, herbaceous Hibiscus can reach 15 ft in one season's growth, and annual vines can reach 40 feet in a good summer. None are woody or true trees or shrubs. Darn pigeon holes. Jim W. -- Dr. James W. Waddick 8871 NW Brostrom Rd. Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711 USA Ph. 816-746-1949 Zone 5 Record low -23F Summer 100F + _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ --------------------------------- Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.