What are herbs, shrubs and trees?

Grouping plants by height and stem

Plants vary a lot in their stems: some are thin and soft, others thick and hard; some are short, others taller than a house. In Activity 2.4 of the book, you go on a nature walk and look closely at each plant:

1. Height: is the plant shorter than you, about as tall as you, or taller than you?
2. Stem: is it green or brown? Touch it and bend it gently: is it tender and easy to bend, or stiff and hard? Is it thick or thin?
3. Branches: do they start close to the ground or higher up on the stem?

Your answers place the plant in one of three groups: herbs, shrubs or trees.

Trees

Some plants grow really tall and have hard, thick, brown and woody stems, called trunks. Their branches usually start high up on the stem, away from the ground. These are trees. A mango tree is an example; neem, peepal and jamun are trees too.

Shrubs

Some plants are not as tall as trees. They often have many brown, woody stems that branch very close to the ground. The stems are hard but not as thick as a tree trunk. These plants are shrubs. A rose plant is a shrub, and so is a hibiscus (gudhal).

Herbs

Some plants are small, with soft and green stems. These are herbs. A tomato plant is a herb; mint (pudina), coriander and wheat are herbs as well.

The three groups compared

Here is how the book’s examples from Table 2.3 fit:

Plant	Height	Stem	Branches start	Group
Mango	Tall	Brown, hard, thick	Higher up on the stem	Tree
Rose	Medium	Brown, hard, thin	Close to the ground	Shrub
Tomato	Short	Green, tender, thin	Close to the ground	Herb

You can add plants from your own school or street. For example, a neem is tall with a thick, hard trunk branching high up, so it is a tree; mint is short with a soft, green stem, so it is a herb.

Climbers and creepers

Some plants have stems too weak to stand upright. Plants with weak stems that need support to climb and grow are called climbers; they wind around a stick, a fence or another plant. Plants that spread along the ground are called creepers.

A money plant or a pea plant is a climber; pumpkin and watermelon plants are creepers.

How to check a plant’s group

Suppose a friend says a hibiscus (gudhal) is a shrub. To check, ask:

• How tall is it compared with you and with a tree?
• Is the stem green and soft, or brown, hard and woody?
• Is the stem thick like a trunk, or are there several thinner stems?
• Do the branches start close to the ground or high up on the stem?

A hibiscus is of medium height, not as tall as a tree, with several hard, brown stems that branch near the ground, so it is a shrub.

Why grouping matters

Grouping plants by their features makes it easier to study the huge variety around us. Height and stem are only one basis: plants can also be grouped by their leaves, roots and seeds, which you can read about in leaf venation and roots. For the whole chapter, see the Chapter 2 notes.