Herbs, Shrubs and Trees

Question 1 Name the process by which green make their own food?

Question 2 What is the difference between shrub and trees?

Question 3 How does a climber plant different from creeper plant. Give examples?

Question 4 What are herbs. Give its characteristics and example?

Question 5 What are shrubs. Give its characteristics and example?

Question 6 What are trees. Give its characteristics and example?

Question 7 Name two types of plants other than herbs, shrubs and trees?

Question 8 What are flowering plants. Give examples?

Question 9 What are non-flowering plants. Give examples?

Also Read NCERT Solutions for Chapter 7 Getting to know Plants

Photosynthesis

Plants are living things which grow in the soil and remain fixed at a place through their roots. The plants make their own food by the process of photosynthesis, Plants are of different shapes and sizes. Most of the plants have green leaves. A few plants have reddish leaves.

 

Flowering Plants

Most of the plants bear flowers. They are called flowering plants such as Lemon, Wheat, Maize ,Rose, Mango, Neem, Bougainvillea, Mustard, Sunflower plant, Chilli ,Tomato, Tulsi, Peepal, Banyan, Banana, Sugarcane and Potato.

Non flowering Plants

Some of the plants, however, do not bear flowers. They are called non-flowering plants (or flowerless plants) such as Ferns, Moss, Algae, Fungi (like Mushroom), and Conifers (like Pine trees)

HERBS, SHRUBS AND TREES

Most of the plants can be classified into three main groups : herbs, shrubs and trees.

Herbs

(1) Herbs are small plants having a soft and delicate stem.

(2) Herbs do not have woody stem.

(3) Herbs have a green and tender stem. We can easily bend the stem of a herb.

(4) Herbs are short-sized plants. Herbs usually do not grow more than one meter in height. Herbs have a short life-span.

(5) They may live for only one or two seasons.

(6) Though the stems of herbs are soft and delicate but they are strong enough to stand erect on their own.

For example : Wheat, Paddy (Rice), Cabbage, Tomato, Mustard, Radish, Sunflower, Carrot, Ginger and Turnip.

Shrubs

(1) Shrubs are medium-sized plants with a hard woody stem, branching out near the base.

(2) Stem of a shrub is hard but not very thick.

(3) Shrubs tend to branch near ground level, so many branches are seen rising just above the ground.

(4) The shrubs are bigger than herbs but smaller than trees.

(5)The life span of shrubs is for many years but it is less than that of trees.

Some of the examples of shrubs are Croton, Lemon, Tulsi, Rose, Jasmine (Chameli), Bougainvillea, China rose, Pomegranate and Heena (mehndi). 

 

Trees

(1) Trees are tall and big plants with hard and thick woody stem.

(2) The tree have one main stem called ‘trunk’ which usually gives out branches and leaves.

(3) The trees are very big in size.

(4) The life-span of trees is very large. Shrubs and and trees are both woody plants

Some examples are Mango, Neem, Banyan (Peepal), jamun, Palm, Teak, Oak, sandalwood and Coconut.

Shrubs	Trees
They are medium-sized plants	They are very tall and big
They branch near the ground	They branch much above the ground.
They have thin stem	They have thick stem

Climbers

A Plant having thin, long and weak stem which cannot stand upright but rapidly climbs up a neighbouring support (like a fence) or a tree is called a climber (or climber plant).

A climber plant has special organs for climbing called “tendrils”. The tendrils of climber plant wind themselves around any neighbouring object and help the plant to climb up.

Some of the examples of this climber plants are Sweet gourd (petha), Bitter gourd (Karela), Bottle ground (Lauki), Grape vine, Passion flower, money plant and Glory lily.

Creepers

A plant having thin, long and weak stem which cannot stand upright and spreads on the ground, is called a creeper or creeper plant.

A creeper plant grows along the ground or the other surfaces by extending long shoots or branches.

Two examples of it are pumpkin, watermelon, sweet potato and Strawberry.

If a creeper plant is to be grown like a climber plant, then the top end of its stem has to be tied with a string and the other end of string is fixed at a height.

Difference between Climber and Creeper plant is that climber plant have climbing organs like tendrils but Creeper plants have no such climbing organs.

Notes for Chapter 7 : Getting to Know Plants Herbs, Shrubs and Trees Root, Stem and Leaf Flowers, Fruits and Seeds