biennial, any herbaceous flowering plant that completes its life cycle in two growing seasons. During the first growing season, biennials produce roots, stems, and leaves.
Biennial flowers are plants that take two years to complete their life cycle. They usually grow from the seeds and die within two seasons, leaving only their seeds to be replanted.
perennial, any plant that persists for several years, usually with new herbaceous growth from a part that survives from growing season to growing season.
Annual plants complete their life cycle in one growing season. Biennial plants are planted in one year, grow through the year, grow on and flower during the next year. Perennial plants grow strong year after year.
: occurring every two years. a biennial celebration. : continuing or lasting for two years.
A biennial requires all or part of two years to complete its life cycle. During the first season, it produces vegetative structures (leaves) and food storage organs. The plant overwinters and then produces flowers, fruit and seeds during its second season.
Biennial means (an event) lasting for two years or occurring every two years. The related term biennium is used in reference to a period of two years. In particular, it can refer to: Biennial plant, a plant which blooms in its second year and then dies.
The difference is the life cycle. Annual plants germinate, bloom, set seed and die all in one year. Biennial plants have a life cycle of two years, so they germinate and grow one year, bloom and die the following.
Examples of between annual, biennial and perennial plants
Examples of biennial plants: Carrot, cabbage, onions. Examples of perennial plants: Mango, coconut, banana.
Most annuals and biennials are generally monocarpic.
Coneflower (Echinacea)
It may live for over 20 years. The wonderfully colorful blooms last a long time throughout mid to late summer. A great friend to visiting birds and butterflies, coneflower make excellent cut and dried flowers as well.
Individual plant specimens
Methuselah, a Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) in the White Mountains of California, has been measured by ring count to be 4,854 years old.
A plant sealed into a large glass bottle more than 50 years ago is thriving, having created its own miniature, self-contained eco-system. Its owner, David Latimer, began his experiment in 1960 when bottle gardens were all the rage, curious to see how well the plants would do.
What does perennial mean? A plant that lives for more than two years (as distinct from annuals and biennials) is perennial. These plants grow and bloom over spring, summer and autumn, die back in winter and return the following spring with new growth from the rootstock.
The plants which require more than two seasons to complete their life cycle are called perennials. Example: canna, ginger, onion etc. In other words, a perennial plant lives for more than two years.
Corpse Flower
The flower, native to the rainforests of central Sumatra, blooms once every 8 to 20 years, but when it does it opens up to 5 feet wide, or more, with a single dark-purple petal under a tall central stalk.
Examples of biennial plants are members of the onion family including leek, some members of the cabbage family, common mullein, parsley, fennel, Lunaria, silverbeet, black-eyed Susan, sweet William, colic weed, carrot, and some hollyhocks.
The biennials that are grown for seeds, fruits and flowers are grown for two years, whereas those for edible roots and leaves are grown for one year only. Examples of biennials include: parsley, fennel, onion, cabbage, silverbeet and carrot.
Biannual and biennial, meanwhile, have separate meanings. “Biannual” means occurring twice in one year, and “biennial” means happening once every two years. Think of “biannual” as synonymous with “semiannual”: both mean happening twice a year.
However, there are some advantages to growing biennials. Biennials tend to tolerate cold weather better than annuals. Although they don't come back year after year like perennials, they usually self-sow pretty easily, so there's no need to reseed every year.
Both “annual” and “ennial” come from the Latin root “annus,” which means “year.” The distinction comes from how the time period is measured. In the case of “biannual,” it means “occurring twice a year.” “Biennial” has a slightly different meaning.
'Biannual' means twice a year. 'Biennial' means every 2 years.
When we describe something as biannual, we can mean either that it occurs twice a year or that it occurs once every two years.
Biennials. As the name suggests, biennials take two years to complete their life cycle.