forb


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forb

(fôrb)
n.
A broad-leaved herb other than a grass, especially one growing in a field, prairie, or meadow.

[From Greek phorbē, fodder, from pherbein, to graze.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

forb

(fɔːb)
n
(Plants) any herbaceous plant that is not a grass
[C20: from Greek phorbē food, from pherbein to graze]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

forb

(fɔrb)

n.
any herbaceous plant that is not a grass or not grasslike.
[1920–25; < Greek phorbḗ food, fodder, derivative of phérbein to feed]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in periodicals archive ?
(1983) found grasses dominate areas recently colonized by prairie dogs and forbs increase over time following colonization.
saccharum 4 Tree Actaea pachypoda 7 Perennial forb Aesculus glabra 5 Tree Ageratina altissima 2 Perennial forb AILANTHUS ALTISSIMA * 0 Tree ALLIARIA PETIOLATA * 0 Biennial forb Allium tricoccum v.
plantagineum and the following variables were measured: percent bare ground; percent cover of litter, live vegetation, dead vegetation, live grass, live forbs, live shrubs, and bison fecal pats; the height of the tallest grass and tallest forb; and the frequency of grass defoliation.
A comparison of the pre-fire and the 28-year post-fire vegetative cover and production at the Lacy site revealed significant differences in both vegetative cover and herbaceous productivity (P < 0.001); the differences were primarily due to a reduction in annual grasses (P < 0.001) and an increase in perennial forb cover and productivity (P < 0.001) (tables 1 and 2).
Vegetation type (grass, forb, bare ground, woody), height, and vertical intercept of woody vegetation (distance from ground to woody species in cm directly over meter-point) was recorded at each meter-point along transects.
Forb and grass species were often present in small quantities in the diet (less than 2%).
Aquatic plants accounted for 1.9%, forbs 1.1%, and grasses 0.9%.
The springtime diet of whitetail deer almost everywhere is composed of about 80 percent forbs. Forbs are mostly broad-leafed weeds.
Of seven vegetation variables, grass cover best predicted occurrence, followed by forb cover.