Woody Plants

Woody plants have sturdy stems packed with lignin, which offers strength and longevity. This is in contrast to herbaceous plants, which have soft, green, non-woody stems. Trees, shrubs, and vines typically fall under the woody category, while most vegetables, herbs, grasses, and flowers are herbaceous. While these are generally mutually exclusive categories in the plants’ mature forms, there is some overlap. Lavender and rosemary, for example, are semi-woody, possessing both soft, herbaceous growth as well as woody stems as they grow.