hemicryptophyte One of Raunkiaer's life-form categories, being a plant whose perennating buds are at ground level, the aerial shoots dying down at the onset of unfavourable conditions. Three subcategories are recognized:
a. protohemicryptophytes, in which the lowest leaves on the stem are smaller than others, or scale-like, giving added protection to the bud (e.g. Rubus idaeus);

b. partial rosette plants, in which the best-developed leaves form a basal rosette, but some leaves are also present on aerial stems (e.g. Ajuga reptans, bugle); and

c. rosette plants, in which the leaves are confined to a rosette at the base of the aerial shoots (e.g. Bellis perennis, daisy).
Compare CHAMAEOPHYTE; CRYPTOPHYTE; PHANEROPHYTE; and THEROPHYTE.

hemicryptophyte One of Raunkiaer's life-form categories, being a plant whose perennating buds are at ground level, the aerial shoots dying down at the onset of unfavourable conditions. Three sub-categories are recognized: (a)protohemicryptophytes, in which the lowest leaves on the stem are smaller than others, or scale-like, giving added protection to the bud (e.g. Rubus idaeus);(b)partial rosette plants, in which the best-developed leaves form a basal rosette, but some leaves are also present on aerial stems (e.g. Ajuga reptans, bugle); and(c)rosette plants, in which the leaves are confined to a rosette at the base of the aerial shoots (e.g. Bellis perennis, daisy).Compare chamaeophyte; cryptophyte; phanerophyte; and therophyte.

hemicryptophyte A plant life form in Raunkiaer's system of classification (see physiognomy). Hemicryptophytes are typically herbaceous perennials, such as grasses, which produce perennating buds at the soil surface, where the buds are protected by leaf or stem bases.