Plants come in different sizes and shapes. Trees are tall with thick, woody trunks. Shrubs are shorter with many woody stems. Herbs are small, soft plants without wood. Grass, daisies, and tomato plants are herbs. Oaks, maples, and pines are trees. Bushes and hedges are shrubs.
Walk around outside and find examples of trees, shrubs, and herbs. Feel the difference between a hard, woody trunk and a soft, green stem. Sort pictures of plants into the three groups.
All plants have roots, stems, and leaves, but they come in many different sizes and shapes. Scientists group plants into three main types based on how they grow: trees, shrubs, and herbs.
Trees are the biggest plants. They have one thick, hard trunk made of wood. This trunk holds the tree up high so its leaves can reach the sunlight above everything else. Trees can live for decades, centuries, or even thousands of years. Think of an oak tree in a park, a pine tree in the mountains, or a palm tree at the beach. They all have that strong, woody trunk.
Shrubs are smaller than trees, but they also have woody stems. The difference is that shrubs have many stems growing from near the ground instead of one main trunk. Think of a rosebush, a blueberry bush, or a hedge along a sidewalk. Shrubs are usually shorter than a house and spread out wide rather than growing very tall.
Herbs are the smallest type of plant, and their stems are soft and green — not woody at all. If you bend the stem of a daisy or a tomato plant, it feels flexible and juicy, not hard like a branch. Most herbs live for just one year or one growing season. Grass is an herb. Dandelions are herbs. The basil and parsley you might have in your kitchen are herbs too (that is where the cooking word "herb" comes from). Even though they are small, herbs are everywhere — they cover fields, fill gardens, and grow in cracks in the sidewalk.
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