Various terms on plant classification are here reviewed grouping and describing plants

according to their natural habitat or ecological adaptation. These terms facilitate

communication and understanding about agricultural crops or potential crops for
various purposes such as crop selection for gardening or crop farming, research and
development, and plant collection. Substantial understanding of plant classification
and plant adaptation is likewise important in applying more efficient methods for the
commercialized production of crops.

In The Plants (1963), there is mention that the pygmy cedar (Peucepyllum) has the
unique ability to live without soil water. It replenishes its water supply from the
water vapor in the air at night time. This is amazing because it is always presumed
that terrestrial plants naturally obtain water from the soil. After all, terrestrial plants
have roots which are anchored on the soil.

With such information, it follows that it is possible to make productive any problem
area by selecting crops which originated from similarly situated natural habitats. A
list of crops under the different plant classifications, if available, will be a valuable
reference.

But click here to read what was done to make it possible to grow rice in a place which
prohibits lowland farming

Terms Used in Plant Classification

Listed below in alphabetical order are various terms used in describing plants
according to their natural habitat or environmental adaptation. Mostly examples of
plants under each classification are provided.

Hard work converted this piece of

dry land into an oasis of ornamental vegetation differing in natural adaptation
1. Aquatic plants, hydrophytes, or hydrophytic plants, also called water-loving
plants, are plants that are naturally adapted to growing in water or waterlogged soil.
They may grow entirely or partly submerged, or floating on the water surface, or with
their roots anchored to the ground in swamps or beside bodies of water.

They are able to thrive with watery places as their natural habitat due to special
morphological and anatomical modifications mainly the presence of modified roots
called "pneumatophores" which are responsible for oxygen absorption. Those pointed
structures which protrude upward in some mangrove species (probably Sonneratia)
during low tide are pneumatophores.

Some crops belonging to this plant classification are gabi or taro (Colocasia
esculenta), lowland rice (Oryza sativa), members of water hyacinth family
(e.g. Monochoria vaginalis), water lily (Nymphaea spp.), papyrus and umbrella plant
(Cyperus spp.), lotus (Nelumbo nucifera), and bakawan (Rhizophora mucronata) and
other mangrove species.

2. Acidifuge or calcicole plants, also called chalk-loving, lime-loving and acid-

escaping plants, are plants that prefer calcareous or alkaline soils or soils with pH
above 7.0. The alfalfa (Medicago sativa), blazing star (Chamaelirium luteum), and
southern redcedar (Juniperus silisicola)are grouped under this plant classification
(Stiling, 1999).

3. Calcifuge or acidicole plants, also called chalk-escaping, lime-

hating, acidophilous, acid-loving, and acid soil plants, are those that prefer acidic
soils or soils having pH levels below 7.0 but do not tolerate alkaline (basic) or
calcareous soils. Crop examples under this plant classification are the rhododendrons
and azaleas which have a low lime requirement and can live in soils with ph levels of
4.0 or less (Stiling, 1999).

4. Epiphytes or epiphytic plants, also called air plants and tree dwellers, are plants
adapted to growing aboveground on another plant but they are not parasitic. They
usually need the host only for physical support, deriving their nutritional requirements
from the air and other sources.

Examples of common epiphytes are plants under the family Bromyliaceae including
the ornamental bromyliads, and many plants belonging to the orchid and fern
families.

A hemiepiphyte is a plant which starts growing as an epiphyte but, as it matures,

becomes rooted to the soil. Example: strangler fig (Ficus).

5. Halophytes or halophytic plants, also called salt loving plants, are plants that can
tolerate growing under saline conditions or in natural habitats which are excessively
 rich in salts. Included under the halophytic plant classification are the nipa (Nypa
fruticans), talisay (Terminalia catappa), bakawan (Rhizophora mucronata) and many
other mangrove species.

Coconut (Cocos nucifera), cashew (Anacardium occidentale), jackfruit (Artocarpus

heterophyllus) and tamarind (Tamarindus indica) have varying tolerance to salinity.
The common table salt is in fact used as a fertilizer for coconut.

6. Heliophytes or heliophytic plants, also called sun-loving plants, are those that
require for their optimum growth full exposure to the sun. Examples are coconut,
mango (Mangifera indica), sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum), corn (Zea mays). This
plant classification applies more to the xerophytic plants.

7. Lithophytes or lithophytic plants are plants with special adaptation to growing on

rocks or in rocky terrain having scant humus. They absorb nutrients from the air, rain,
and decaying organic matter which accumulate on the rocks. Examples are orchids
belonging to the genera Vanda, Ascocenda, Ascocentrum, and Trudelia.

8. Metallophytes are plants adapted to natural habitats with toxic levels of metals
such as Ni, Co, Cr and Mn. Examples of metal-tolerant plants are Myristica
laurifolia, Shorea tenuiramulosa, Rinorea bengalensis, Phyllanthus balgooyi,
and Walsura monophylla (ISES, 2010).

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9. Mesophytes or mesophytic plants, also called moist-loving plants, belong to the

terrestrial plants. Their natural habitats consists of moderate conditions for plant
growth. These conditions are described as not excessively dry but not too wet. Many
cash crops which are grown in tropical climates having even distribution of rainfall are
mesophytes. Most tropical crops including palms, banana and other fruit trees,and
vegetables are mesophytes.

10. Neutrophilus plants or neutrophiles, are plants that can tolerate either acidic or
alkaline soils.

11. Parasites or parasitic plants, are plants which grow on another plant (host) which
they need as a source of nourishment, either partially or entirely. Examples are the
mistletoe ( family Cassytha and Loranthaceae), Rafflesia, and orchids classified under
the genera Neottia and Corallorhiza.

12. Phreatophytes are plants adapted to arid conditions by growing long roots which
obtain water from underground reserves. The mere presence of these plants indicate
a stable supply of underground water and such knowledge has been applied by digging
wells close to them. Examples are the mesquite (Prosopis), cottonwood tree (Populus)
and California fan palm (Washingtonia filifera).

13. Saprophytes or saprophytic crops refer to the mushrooms. They are not plants
but fungi which have no green tissues. Their natural habitat consist of the dead or
decaying organic matter from which they obtain their food.

Knowledge of their natural habitat has been put into use in their commercialized
production. Mushrooms are grown on organic substrates such as banana leaves, rice
straws and other plant leaves, saw dust and logs.

Examples of commercially grown mushrooms are the straw mushroom (Volvariella

volvacea), button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus), Shiitake mushroom (Lentinus
edodes), Flammulina velutipes, Pleorotus pulmonarius, and Auricularia polytricha.
14. Sciophytes or sciophytic plants, also called shade-loving plants, are those plants
with special ecological adaptation to reduced light intensity or partial sun. Most of
these plants are found naturally growing on the forest floor and under the canopies of
trees with thick foliage. Examples are most orchids, ferns and fern allies like whisk
fern (Psilotum nudum), horsetail (Equisetum spp.), clubmosses (Lycopodium spp.)
and Silaginella spp.

Commercially grown crops associated with this plant classification include the black
pepper (Piper nigrum), cacao (Theobroma cacao), coffee
(Coffea spp.), lanzones (Lansium domesticum), mangosteen (Garcinia
mangostana), soursop (Annona muricata), hot pepper (Capsicum annuum)and ginger
(Zingiber officinale). These crops can tolerate or require shade and are therefore
suitable for intercropping under coconut or other perennial crops having wide
canopies.

15.Terrestrial plants, also called land plants, are those that grow on land with their
roots in the soil. Their body parts are divided into two main groupings: the aerial
parts and the underground parts. Most farm crops belong to this plant classification
and are further grouped into special classifications such as heliophytes, mesophytes,
sciophytes, etc.

16. Xerophytes, xerophytic or xeric plants, also called dry loving plants, are those
having plant adaptation to regions with scant or no water and hot conditions. Their
natural habitats are the arid and semi-arid regions and those places with long summer
drought. A specialized type of landscaping which emphasizes the use of xerophytes is
termed xeriscaping.

Examples of xerophytes are the members of the Lamiaceae and Compositae, the olive
(Olea), and the succulents such as the cacti and those belonging to the
genera Asparagus, Euphorbia, Agave, Aloe, Crassula and Sansevieria (botany.wisc.edu
, 2009). The pineapple and other bromeliads are also included under this plant
classification.

By knowing the natural plant adaptation of the various farm crops, the probability of
crop failure can be minimized or prevented. A hydrophyte is suited under
waterlogged area; a xerophyte for the drought-prone farm; a sciophyte for
intercropping with perennial crops. Otherwise, provide what is lacking. For the plant
breeders, the genotype can always be manipulated.