subshrub

/ˌsʌbˈʃrʌb/

Definitions of subshrub

1. noun

   low-growing woody shrub or perennial with woody base
   synonyms: suffrutex

   types:

   darling pea, poison bush

   either of two Australian plants of the genus Swainsona that are poisonous to sheep

   Amsonia tabernaemontana, blue star

   subshrubs of southeastern United States forming slow-growing clumps and having blue flowers in short terminal cymes

   periwinkle

   chiefly trailing poisonous plants with blue flowers

   Aralia nudicaulis, false sarsaparilla, wild sarsaparilla, wild sarsparilla

   common perennial herb having aromatic roots used as a substitute for sarsaparilla; central and eastern North America

   American spikenard, Aralia racemosa, life-of-man, petty morel

   unarmed woody rhizomatous perennial plant distinguished from wild sarsaparilla by more aromatic roots and panicled umbels; southeastern North America to Mexico

   Aralia hispida, bristly sarsaparilla, bristly sarsparilla, dwarf elder

   bristly herb of eastern and central North America having black fruit and medicinal bark

   bloodleaf

   any plant of the genus Iresine having colored foliage

   Cleome pinnata, Stanleya pinnata, desert plume, prince's-plume

   perennial of southwestern United States having leathery blue-green pinnatifid leaves and thick plumelike spikes of yellow flowers; sometimes placed in genus Cleome

   California tree poppy, Romneya coulteri, matilija poppy

   tall branching subshrub of California and Mexico often cultivated for its silvery-blue foliage and large fragrant white flowers

   burdock, clotbur

   any of several erect biennial herbs of temperate Eurasia having stout taproots and producing burs

   Argyranthemum frutescens, Chrysanthemum frutescens, Paris daisy, marguerite, marguerite daisy

   perennial subshrub of the Canary Islands having usually pale yellow daisylike flowers; often included in genus Chrysanthemum

   wormwood

   any of several low composite herbs of the genera Artemisia or Seriphidium

   sage brush, sagebrush

   any of several North American composite subshrubs of the genera Artemis or Seriphidium

   beggar's-ticks, beggar-ticks, bur marigold, burr marigold, sticktight

   any of several plants of the genus Bidens having yellow flowers and prickly fruits that cling to fur and clothing

   centaury

   any plant of the genus Centaurea

   matchbush, matchweed

   any of several plants of the genus Gutierrezia having tiny flower heads that resemble the heads of matches

   Parthenium argentatum, guayule

   much-branched subshrub with silvery leaves and small white flowers of Texas and northern Mexico; cultivated as a source of rubber

   American feverfew, Parthenium integrifolium, prairie dock, wild quinine

   stout perennial herb of the eastern United States with whitish flowers; leaves traditionally used by Catawba Indians to treat burns

   bastard pimpernel, chaffweed, false pimpernel

   weedy plant having short dry chafflike leaves

   thrift

   any of numerous sun-loving low-growing evergreens of the genus Armeria having round heads of pink or white flowers

   marsh rosemary, sea lavender, statice

   any of various plants of the genus Limonium of temperate salt marshes having spikes of white or mauve flowers

   corchorus

   any of various plants of the genus Corchorus having large leaves and cymose clusters of yellow flowers; a source of jute

   diapensia

   any boreal low-growing evergreen plant of the genus Diapensia

   loosestrife

   any of numerous herbs and subshrubs of the genus Lythrum

   deer grass, meadow beauty

   any of several plants of the genus Rhexia usually having pink-purple to magenta flowers; eastern North America

   St John's wort

   any of numerous plants of the genus Hypericum having yellow flowers and transparently dotted leaves; traditionally gathered on St John's eve to ward off evil

   Hudsonia ericoides, false heather, golden heather

   North American decumbent evergreen heathlike plant with yellow flowers

   Hudsonia tomentosa, beach heather, poverty grass

   small heathlike plant covered with white down growing on beaches in northeastern North America

   Cassia fasciculata, Chamaecrista fasciculata, partridge pea, sensitive pea, wild sensitive plant

   tropical American plant having leaflets somewhat sensitive to the touch; sometimes placed in genus Cassia

   Cassia tora, Senna obtusifolia, sicklepod

   cosmopolitan tropical herb or subshrub with yellow flowers and slender curved pods; a weed; sometimes placed in genus Cassia

   beggar lice, beggar's lice, tick trefoil

   any of various tropical and subtropical plants having trifoliate leaves and rough sticky pod sections or loments

   Hedysarum boreale, sweet vetch

   perennial of western United States having racemes of pink to purple flowers followed by flat pods that separate into nearly orbicular joints

   French honeysuckle, Hedysarum coronarium, sulla

   perennial of southern Europe cultivated for forage and for its nectar-rich pink flowers that make it an important honey crop

   Hippocrepis comosa, horseshoe vetch

   European woody perennial with yellow umbellate flowers followed by flattened pods that separate into horseshoe-shaped joints

   cube

   any of several tropical American woody plants of the genus Lonchocarpus whose roots are used locally as a fish poison and commercially as a source of rotenone

   Lotus americanus, compass plant, prairie bird's-foot trefoil, prairie lotus, prairie trefoil

   North American annual with red or rose-colored flowers

   Lotus berthelotii, coral gem

   low-growing much-branched perennial of Canary Islands having orange-red to scarlet or purple flowers; naturalized in United States

   Lotus corniculatus, babies' slippers, bacon and eggs, bird's foot clover, bird's foot trefoil

   European forage plant having claw-shaped pods introduced in America

   Indian beet, Lupinus perennis, old-maid's bonnet, sundial lupine, wild lupine

   stout perennial of eastern and central North America having palmate leaves and showy racemose blue flowers

   Ononis repens, rest-harrow, restharrow

   European woody plant having pink flowers and unifoliate leaves and long tough roots; spreads by underground runners

   Ononis spinosa, rest-harrow, restharrow

   Eurasian plant having loose racemes of pink or purple flowers and spiny stems and tough roots

   hoary pea

   a plant of the genus Tephrosia having pinnate leaves and white or purplish flowers and flat hairy pods

   Polygonum orientale, kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate, prince's-feather, prince's-plume, princess feather

   annual with broadly ovate leaves and slender drooping spikes of crimson flowers; southeastern Asia and Australia; naturalized in North America

   eriogonum

   any plant of the genus Eriogonum with small clustered flowers

   Dryas octopetala, mountain avens

   creeping evergreen shrub with large white flowers; widely distributed in northern portions of Eurasia and North America

   avens

   any of various perennials of the genus Geum having usually pinnate basal leaves and variously colored flowers

   Prunus besseyi, Rocky Mountains cherry, Western sand cherry

   dwarf ornamental shrub of western United States having large black to red and yellow sweet edible fruit

   woodruff

   any plant of the genus Asperula

   Linnaea borealis, twinflower

   creeping evergreen subshrub of the northern parts of Europe and Asia with delicate fragrant tubular bell-shaped usually pink flowers borne in pairs

   milkwort

   any of various plants of the genus Polygala

   Tribulus terestris, caltrop, devil's weed

   tropical annual procumbent poisonous subshrub having fruit that splits into five spiny nutlets; serious pasture weed

   pachysandra

   any plant of the genus Pachysandra; low-growing evergreen herbs or subshrubs having dentate leaves and used as ground cover

   Aeonium haworthii, pinwheel

   perennial subshrub of Tenerife having leaves in rosettes resembling pinwheels

   phlomis

   any of various plants of the genus Phlomis; grown primarily for their dense whorls of lipped flowers and attractive foliage

   Jerusalem sage, Phlomis fruticosa

   a spreading subshrub of Mediterranean regions cultivated for dense axillary whorls of purple or yellow flowers

   germander

   any of various plants of the genus Teucrium

   blue curls

   any of several plants of the genus Trichostema having whorls of small blue flowers

   eringo, eryngo

   any plant of the genus Eryngium

   Swainsona galegifolia, smooth darling pea

   erect or trailing perennial of eastern Australia having axillary racemes of blue to purple or red flowers

   Swainsona grandiflora, Swainsona greyana, hairy darling pea

   shrubby perennial of southern Australia having downy or woolly stems and undersides of leaves and racemes of red to pink flowers

   Vinca minor, myrtle

   widely cultivated as a groundcover for its dark green shiny leaves and usually blue-violet flowers

   Vinca major, large periwinkle

   plant having variegated foliage and used for window boxes

   Iresine herbstii, Iresine reticulata, beef plant, beefsteak plant

   South American plant having green to purple or red branches with green to purple ornamental foliage and spikes of insignificant woolly flowers with dry membranous bracts

   Arctium minus, common burdock, lesser burdock

   a plant that is ubiquitous in all but very acid soil; found in most of Europe and North Africa

   Arctium lappa, cocklebur, great burdock, greater burdock

   burdock having heart-shaped leaves found in open woodland, hedgerows and rough grassland of Europe (except extreme N) and Asia Minor; sometimes cultivated for medicinal and culinary use

   mugwort

   any of several weedy composite plants of the genus Artemisia

   Artemisia abrotanum, southernwood

   shrubby European wormwood naturalized in North America; sometimes used in brewing beer

   Artemisia absinthium, absinthe, common wormwood, lad's love, old man

   aromatic herb of temperate Eurasia and North Africa having a bitter taste used in making the liqueur absinthe

   Artemisia annua, sweet wormwood

   wormwood of southeastern Europe to Iran

   Artemisia californica, California sage, California sagebrush

   low ashy-grey California shrub

   Artemisia campestris, field wormwood

   European wormwood similar to common wormwood in its properties

   Artemisia filifolia, sand sage, silvery wormwood

   silver-haired shrub of central and southern United States and Mexico; a troublesome weed on rangelands

   Artemisia frigida, prairie sagewort, wormwood sage

   silky-leaved aromatic perennial of dry northern parts of the northern hemisphere; has tawny florets

   Artemis pontica, Roman wormwood

   European wormwood; minor source of absinthe

   Artemis spinescens, bud brush, bud sagebrush

   a perennial that is valuable as sheep forage in the United States

   Artemisia stelleriana, beach wormwood, dusty miller, old woman

   herb with greyish leaves found along the east coast of North America; used as an ornamental plant

   Bidens bipinnata, Spanish needles

   common bur marigold of the eastern United States

   Bidens coronata, Bidens trichosperma, tickseed sunflower

   North American bur marigold with large flowers

   Bidens tripartita, European beggar-ticks, trifid beggar-ticks, trifid bur marigold

   bur marigold of temperate Eurasia

   Bidens connata, swampy beggar-ticks

   bur marigold of eastern and northern United States and Canada common in wet pastures and meadows

   Centaurea americana, basket flower

   annual of southwestern United States cultivated for its purple flower heads and its bracts that resemble small baskets

   Centaurea cineraria, Centaurea gymnocarpa, dusty miller

   a plant having leaves and stems covered with down that resembles dust

   Centauria calcitrapa, caltrop, star-thistle

   Mediterranean annual or biennial herb having pinkish to purple flowers surrounded by spine-tipped scales; naturalized in America

   knapweed

   any of various plants of the genus Centaurea having purple thistlelike flowers

   Gutierrezia microcephala, little-head snakeweed

   similar to Gutierrezia sarothrae but with flower heads having fewer rays and disk flowers

   Gutierrezia sarothrae, broom snakeroot, broom snakeweed, rabbit-weed, rabbitweed, snakeweed, turpentine weed

   low-growing sticky subshrub of southwestern United States having narrow linear leaves on many slender branches and hundreds of tiny yellow flower heads

   Gutierrezia texana, broom-weed, broomweed

   annual of southwestern United States having rigid woody branches with sticky foliage and yellow flowers

   Artemisia cana, Seriphidium canum, gray sage, grey sage, silver sage, silver sagebrush

   low much-branched perennial of western United States having silvery leaves; an important browse and shelter plant

   Artemisia maritima, Seriphidium maritimum, sea wormwood

   plants of western and northern European coasts

   Artemisia tridentata, Seriphidium tridentatum, big sagebrush, blue sage

   aromatic shrub of arid regions of western North America having hoary leaves

   Armeria maritima, cliff rose, sea pink

   tufted thrift of seacoasts and mountains of north temperate zone; occasionally grown as a ground cover

   Lythrum salicaria, purple loosestrife, spiked loosestrife

   marsh herb with a long spike of purple flowers; originally of Europe but now rampant in eastern United States

   Lythrum hyssopifolia, grass poly, hyssop loosestrife

   annual with small solitary pink flowers; originally of Europe but widely naturalized in moist areas

   Hypericum androsaemum, common St John's wort, tutsan

   deciduous bushy Eurasian shrub with golden yellow flowers and reddish-purple fruits from which a soothing salve is made in Spain

   Hypericum ascyron, Hypericum pyramidatum, great St John's wort

   perennial shrub having large star-shaped yellow flowers in narrowly pyramidal cymes

   Hypericum calycinum, creeping St John's wort

   creeping evergreen shrub with bright yellow star-shaped summer flowers; useful as ground cover

   Hypericum gentianoides, nitweed, orange grass, pine-weed, pineweed

   annual wiry-stemmed North American weed with minute scalelike leaves and small yellow flowers

   Hypericum crux andrae, St Andrews's cross

   shrubby plant having yellow to apricot flowers with four petals arranged in a cross; southeastern United States: New York to Texas

   Hypericum hypericoides, low St Andrew's cross

   low shrubby plant having yellow flowers with four petals arranged in a cross; Bermuda and southeastern United States to West Indies and eastern Mexico

   Hypericum perforatum, klammath weed

   yellow-flowered perennial common in fields and waste places but a weed in rangelands

   Hypericum prolificum, Hypericum spathulatum, shrubby St John's wort

   stiff shrub having oblong entire leaves and dense cymes of yellow flowers

   Hypericum maculatum, Hypericum tetrapterum, St Peter's wort

   European perennial St John's wort; Ireland and France to western Siberia

   Hypericum virginianum, marsh St-John's wort

   perennial marsh herb with pink to mauve flowers; southeastern United States

   Desmodium purpureum, Desmodium tortuosum, beggarweed

   West Indian forage plant cultivated in southern United States as forage and to improve soil

   Tephrosia purpurea, bastard indigo

   East Indian shrub

   Tephrosia virginiana, catgut, goat's rue, wild sweet pea

   perennial subshrub of eastern North America having downy leaves yellowish and rose flowers and; source of rotenone

   Eriogonum allenii, umbrella plant

   late blooming perennial plant of shale barrens of Virginia having flowers in flat-topped clusters

   California buckwheat, Erigonum fasciculatum, wild buckwheat

   low-growing shrub with spreading branches and flowers in loose heads; desert regions of western United States (California to Utah)

   Geum alleppicum strictum, Geum strictum, yellow avens

   erect subshrub with deep yellow flowers; Europe and Asia and North America

   Geum canadense, bennet, white avens

   North American white-flowered avens

   Geum macrophyllum, yellow avens

   hairy yellow-flowered plant of eastern Asia and North America

   Geum rivale, Indian chocolate, chocolate root, purple avens, water avens

   erect perennial of north temperate zone having pinnate leaves and a few nodding flowers with a brown-purple calyx and orange and pink petals

   Geum triflorum, prairie smoke, purple avens

   North American perennial with hairy basal pinnate leaves and purple flowers and plume-tipped fruits

   Geum urbanum, clover-root, cloveroot, herb bennet, wood avens

   hairy Eurasian plant with small yellow flowers and an astringent root formerly used medicinally

   Geum virginianum, bennet, white avens

   avens of Virginia having pale or greenish yellow flowers

   Asperula tinctoria, dyer's woodruff

   creeping European perennial having red or pinkish-white flowers and red roots sometimes used as a substitute for madder in dyeing

   American twinflower, Linnaea borealis americana

   similar to the twinflower of northern Europe and Asia

   Polygala alba, senega

   perennial bushy herb of central and southern United States having white flowers with green centers and often purple crest; similar to Seneca snakeroot

   Polygala lutea, candyweed, orange milkwort, yellow bachelor's button, yellow milkwort

   bog plant of pine barrens of southeastern United States having spikes of irregular yellow-orange flowers

   Polygala paucifolia, bird-on-the-wing, flowering wintergreen, fringed polygala, gaywings

   common trailing perennial milkwort of eastern North America having leaves like wintergreen and usually rosy-purple flowers with winged sepals

   Polygala senega, Seneca snakeroot, Seneka snakeroot, senega root, senega snakeroot, senga root

   eastern North American plant having a terminal cluster of small white flowers and medicinal roots

   Polygala vulgaris, common milkwort, gand flower

   small European perennial with numerous branches having racemes of blue, pink or white flowers; formerly reputed to promote human lactation

   Allegheny mountain spurge, Allegheny spurge, Pachysandra procumbens

   low semi-evergreen perennial herb having small spikes of white or pinkish flowers; native to southern United States but grown elsewhere

   Japanese spurge, Pachysandra terminalis

   slow-growing Japanese evergreen subshrub having terminal spikes of white flowers; grown as a ground cover

   American germander, Teucrium canadense, wood sage

   subshrub with serrate leaves and cream-colored to pink or purple flowers in spikelike racemes; North America

   Teucrium chamaedrys, wall germander

   European perennial subshrub with red-purple or bright rose flowers with red and white spots

   Teucrium marum, cat thyme, marum

   Mediterranean germander having small hairy leaves and reddish purple flowers; attractive to cats

   Teucrium scorodonia, wood sage

   European germander with one-sided racemes of yellow flowers; naturalized in North America

   California romero, Trichostema lanatum, black sage, wooly blue curls

   an aromatic plant with wooly leaves found in southern California and Mexico

   Trichostema lanceolatum, camphorweed, turpentine camphor weed, vinegarweed

   aromatic plant of western United States

   Trichostema dichotomum, bastard pennyroyal

   aromatic plant of the eastern United States

   type of:

   bush, shrub

   a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems