Woody Shrubs Present at www.japanese-home-gardens.com

GRASSLAND, a plant community—an association of growing plants—in which perennial grasses (family Gramineae) are the dominant or most characteristic species. There are few woody shrubs present, and trees are either lacking or rare. Other grasses, both annual and perennial, are usually associated with the dominant grasses. Only in special situations is a grassland composed of a single grass species.

For the purpose of this discussion the tree fruits may be said to include the apple, orange, grapefruit, peach, pear, cherry, apricot, nectarine, plum, lemon, avocado, persimmon, date, and fig. Woody shrubs producing a variety of so-called small fruits include raspberry, blackberry, loganberry, currant, gooseberry, blueberry, dewberry, and cranberry. The grape is the principal woody vine fruit, and the strawberry, pineapple, and banana are the outstanding examples of herbaceous perennials included in the fruit growing category.

Below the canopy are slender understory trees resembling poles. Palms and bamboos often are present. The sparse open undergrowth consists of scattered shrubs and relatively few herbs such as ferns, banana-like plants, and aroids (arum family). The tree branches are well loaded with epiphytes (air plants) and woody and herbaceous vines or lianas. Epiphytes, attached to the trees, include many ferns, orchids, bromeliads (relatives of Spanish moss), pepero-mias, mosses, liverworts, and lichens. Strangler vines begin as seeds germinating high in a tree fork, then form their own roots and trunks which clasp and fuse together, strangling and killing the host tree.