1. Raunkiaer's plant classification system based on selective morphological categories and on the position of the resting buds that survive any period(s) unfavorable to growth, e.g., a cold or a dry season 2. one of a series of classes based on the characteristic vegetative shape and appearance of a taxon —see chamaephyte, cryptophyte, geophyte, growth form, halophyte, hemicryptophyte, hydrophyte, phanerophyte, therophyteThis definition last updated 07/11/2008