Herbs

Abstract

Herbs survive in forest clearings, woodland margins and in altogether more open situations. Across a transect of progressively lower rainfall regions herbs would, if perennial, tend to be more xerophytic or otherwise, toward the extremes, escape drought by short generations evolved to exploit wet seasons. Survival to extreme cold is considered in the next chapter. Emphasis presently is upon largely mesophytic plants. As in the previous chapter, families are selected to indicate items of particular interest in a Chinese context and, where appropriate, familiar taxa are used to introduce more obscure ones.