This document discusses diversity in plant habits according to height and life cycle. It classifies plants according to height as herbs, shrubs, trees, and climbers. According to life cycle, plants are annuals, biennials, or perennials. Annuals complete their life cycle in one year, biennials take two years, and perennials live for many years. The document provides examples for each category and describes traits such as annuals, biennials, perennial herbs, shrubs, trees, parasitic plants, epiphytes, and plants adapted to different ecological conditions.

1. Diversity in Plant Habits
Lecture Under SAFE Program
By
Dr.M.J.Keche
Assistant Professor and Head
Department of Botany
Rajarshee Shahu Science College
Chandur Rly Dist.Amravati

2. Diversity in Plant Habits:
The presence of variety of plants in the form of different tans (specie, genera) is called diversity of plant.
Different plants have different morphology, physiology, cytology and anatomy. It produces diversity among
plants. Diversity includes classification and nomenclature of plants.
The following points highlight the top two categories of diversity in habit of the plant. The categories are:
1. According to the Height 2. According to the Life-cycle.
1. According to the Height plants are classified as Herb, Shrub, Tree and Climbers.
2.According to duration of life span they are classified as
A) Annual
B) Biennials
C) Perennials

3. 1.Annuals:
They complete their life-cycle within one year and die after producing seeds, e.g., wheat, rice, gram.
2.Biennials (or Biannuals);
These plants complete their life-cycle in two years. During first year they show only vegetative growth, and during second year they develop flowers,
fruits and seeds. These plants are usually herbs, e.g., Radish, Turnip, and Carrot.
3. Perennials:
These plants have long life, and once established continue to live for many years. The great banyan tree (Ficus bengalensis) in the Botanical Garden,
Kolkata is more than 200 years old. The Bodhi tree (ficus religiosa) at Gaya is about 2500 years old.
Most perennials, after attaining maturity, bear flowers and fruits in a particular season of each year. They are called polycarpic, e.g., coconut, mango,
Acacia etc. Some perennials (e.g., Bamboos, Agave) are monocarpic i.e., they bear fruits only once in their life. All annuals and biennials are
monocarpic.

4. Annual
1) Trailers: Weak and herbaceous Plant remain parallel to soil
2) Creeper: Creep to the soil by adventitious root.
3) Twiners: Climber without climbing organs
4) Climber: Climb with the help of tendril
Trailers Creeper Twiners Climber

5. Biennials

6. Perennial
Perennial Herbs:
Eg Turmeric, Ginger, Canna

7. Perennial Shrub

8. Perennial Trees

9. Parasitic perennials
They are of two types:
1) Partial Root Parasites: 2) Partial stem Parasite 3) Total Parasites
eg: Striga eg: Loranthus eg: Cuscuta

10. Epiphytes
These are the plants which grow on other plants only for support and they can prepare own
food material. These plants have epiphytic roots which contain velamen tissue.The green
leaves of these plants perform photosynthesis and therefore autotrophic:
Eg Orchids, Vanda

11. Diversity of plant according to ecological condition
1) Mesophytes Plants growing in Normal Condition eg: mango, azadirachta indica
2) Hydrophytes growing in the aquatic habitat eg: nymphaea
3) Xerophyte growing in the xeric or dry condition eg: opuntia
4) Halophytes plants growing in the plants growing in the saline habitat.eg: avicinia

12. Thank You