Woody plant: Encyclopedia - Woody plant

Woody plant

A woody plant is any vascular plant that has a perennial stem that is above ground and covered by bark, that is, one that supports continued vegetative growth above ground from year to year.

A perennial plant with true woody stems contain wood, which is primarily composed of structures of cellulose and lignin which provide support and a vascular system used to move water and nutrients from the roots to the leaves and sugars from the leaves to the rest of the plant. Most woody plants form new layers of woody tissue each year, and so increase their stem diameter from year to year.

Woody plants are usually either trees, shrubs, or vines.

Many annual plants appear to form woody stems in their first year, but die at the end of the growing season. They are herbaceous stems without wood.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Woody plant", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki