Nutation (botany) flowers to open or close by movements which resemble the simple nutation of dorsiventral organs. Thus, the tulip, crocus, and other vernal flowers are very sensitive to changes in temperature. The crocus can perceive a change of 0.5°C (0.9°F), and will respond to a change of 20°C (36°F) in two minutes. Nutation (botany) Nutation is the bending movements executed by some plant organs, such as stems, leaves, roots, etc., by which the part is inclined successively in various directions. Nutations are due to the unequal rate of growth of different sides of the organ, an inequality which, so far as
Plant life-form Plant life-form Plant life-form schemes constitute a way of classifying plants alternatively to the ordinary species-genus-family scientific classification. In colloquial speech, plants may be classified as trees, shrubs, herbs (forbs and graminoids), etc. The scientific use of life-form schemes emphasizes plant function in the ecosystem and that the same function or "adaptedness" to the environment may be achieved in a number of ways, i.e. plant species that are closely related phylogenetically may have widely different life-form, for example "Adoxa" and "Sambucus" are from the same family, but the former is a small herbaceous plant and the latter is a shrub