Briefly describe Raunkiaer’s Life forms.

The factor selected by Raunkiaer is the adaptation of plants to the critical or rigorous reason as expressed by the nature and the degree of protection possessed by the dormant perennating shoot apex. The preliminary to this is a classification of plants according to shoot apex or bud protection and the life forms.

Phanerophytes have their dormant buds on branches which project freely into the air, they are the trees and shrubs.  According to degree of protection one can distinguish evergreens with naked or with covered buds. According to size one can distinguish mega phanerophytes, meso phanerophytes, micro phnerophytes, nanophanero phytes.

Chamaephytes includes plants with their buds or shoot opics perennating on the surface of the ground.

Hetnicryptophytes have their dormant buds in the upper crust of the soil.

Cryptophytes include plants with their dormant parts subterranean in the case of geophytes. Another division is characterized by semi-aquatic dormant buds-helophytes and hydrophytes.

Therophytes or the plants of the favorable reason live through the unfavorable season as seeds, thus they are annual plants.