Editing Subshrub

{{Short description|Short woody plant}}[[File:Lavandula-stoechas-habitat1.JPG|thumb|right|250px|''[[Lavandula stoechas]]'']]
[[File:Linnaea borealis.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''[[Linnaea borealis]]'']] 

A '''subshrub''' ([[Latin]] ''suffrutex'') or '''undershrub''' is either a small [[shrub]] (e.g. [[prostrate shrub]]s) or a [[perennial]] that is largely [[herbaceous]] but slightly [[woody plant|woody]] at the base (e.g. [[garden pink]] and [[florist's chrysanthemum]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Harris |first1=James G. |title=Plant identification terminology: an illustrated glossary |last2=Harris |first2=Melinda Woolf |publisher=Spring Lake Publishing |year=2001 |edition=2nd |location=Spring Lake, Utah |pages=117}}</ref> The term is often interchangeable with "bush".<ref name= "BotGloss">Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Derivation and Accent; Published by Gerald Duckworth & Co. London, 4th ed 1928</ref>

Because the criteria are matters of degree (normally of height) rather than of kind, the definition of a subshrub is not sharply distinguishable from that of a shrub; examples of reasons for describing plants as subshrubs include ground-hugging stems or low growth habit. Subshrubs may be largely herbaceous though still classified as woody, with overwintering perennial woody growth much lower-growing than deciduous summer growth. Some plants described as subshrubs are only weakly woody and some persist for only a few years. Others, such as ''[[Oldenburgia paradoxa]]'' live indefinitely (though is still vulnerable to external effects), rooted in rocky cracks.

Small, low shrubs such as [[lavender]], [[Vinca|periwinkle]], and [[thyme]], and many shrub-like members of the family [[Ericaceae]], such as [[cranberry|cranberries]] and small species of ''[[Erica (plant)|Erica]]'', are often classed as subshrubs.

==Definition==
A '''chamaephyte, subshrub''' or '''dwarf-shrub''' is a plant that bears hibernating buds on persistent shoots near the ground – usually woody plants with [[Perennating organ|perennating]] buds borne close to the ground, usually less than {{convert|25|cm|in}} above the soil surface. The significance of the closeness to the ground is that the buds remain within the soil surface layer and are thus somewhat protected from various adverse external influences. Accordingly, the chamaephyte [[Habit (biology)|habit]] is especially common in stressful environments, for example: 
* ecosystems on nutrient-poor soils or [[Rock (geology)|rock]]<ref name="Specht1981">{{cite book|author=Raymond Louis Specht|title=Heathlands and related shrublands: analytical studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5X7wAAAAMAAJ|date=1 February 1981|publisher=Elsevier Scientific Pub. Co.|isbn=9780444418098|access-date=13 October 2016|archive-date=2 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402161123/https://books.google.com/books?id=5X7wAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>
* exposed alpine or arctic ecosystems where seasonal or perennial wind and freezing conditions are prone to kill vulnerable growing shoots<ref>{{citation | doi = 10.2307/3558409 | title = Comparative Vessel Anatomy of Arctic Deciduous and Evergreen Dicots | year = 2001 | author1 = Dennis M. Gorsuch | author2 = Steven F. Oberbauer | author3 = Jack B. Fisher | author4 = Dennis M. Gorsuch | author5 = Steven F. Oberbauer | author6 = Jack B. Fisher | journal = American Journal of Botany | volume = 88 | pages = 1643–1649 | jstor = 3558409 | issue = 9 | pmid = 21669698 | bibcode = 2001AmJB...88.1643G }}</ref>
* ecosystems subject to frequent fires and burning, where many species of e.g. ''[[Banksia]]'' or ''[[Eucalyptus]]'' regrow from a [[lignotuber]] or [[caudex]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Fire in Mediterranean Ecosystems|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qx2adrY9AukC&pg=PA500|year=2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-82491-0|pages=500–|access-date=2016-10-13|archive-date=2023-04-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402161137/https://books.google.com/books?id=Qx2adrY9AukC&pg=PA500|url-status=live}}</ref>  
* heavily grazed or overgrazed ecosystems, such as [[Aldabra giant tortoise#Ecology|tortoise turf]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Israel Journal of Botany|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CrFLAQAAIAAJ|year=1975|publisher=Weizmann Science Press of Israel|access-date=2016-10-13|archive-date=2023-04-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402161134/https://books.google.com/books?id=CrFLAQAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Examples of chamaephytes==
The term chamaephyte is most formally used within the context of [[Raunkiær plant life-form|Raunkiær plant life-forms']] classification. Examples of chamaephytes are many of the species living in the [[maquis shrubland]] and other plants of [[Mediterranean Basin|submediterranean]] dry ecosystems (species such as thyme, ''[[Thymus vulgaris]]'', and rosemary, ''[[Rosmarinus officinalis|Salvia rosmarinus]]''); others include heather species (e.g. ''[[Calluna vulgaris]]'' and ''[[Erica (plant)|Erica]]s''), African wild olive (''[[Olea europaea]]'' ssp. ''cuspidata'') and edelweiss (''[[Leontopodium alpinum]]''). Chamaephytes also include [[cushion plant]]s.<ref>{{citation | doi = 10.3732/ajb.92.3.422 | title = Onset of flowering and climate variability in an alpine landscape: a 10-year study from Swedish Lapland | year = 2005 | author = Molau, U. | journal = American Journal of Botany | volume = 92 | pages = 422–31 | last2 = Nordenhall | first2 = U. | last3 = Eriksen | first3 = B. | issue=3 | pmid = 21652418| doi-access = free | bibcode = 2005AmJB...92..422M }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Raunkiær plant life-form]]
*[[Shrub]]
*[[Prostrate shrub]]
*[[Woody plant]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{botany}}

[[Category:Plant life-forms]]
[[Category:Plant morphology]]
[[Category:Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub]]
[[Category:Plants by habit]]
[[Category:Subshrubs| ]]