Hi -- This plant (Rose Campion)is classified as either a perennial or a biennial in a number of books. Is there an official source on what a plant is? A web site that is the final authority on whether it's a perennial or not? Or can a plant be classified as a biennial perennial? TIA
In message , told2b writes
There are plants which are perennials treated as biennials. But I wouldn't have put Lychnis coronaria in that category. The classic example is Digitalis purpurea (foxglove).
Some plants are monocarpic (that is, like annuals and biennials, they flower once, but take more than two growing seasons to reach flowering size). The best known examples are some Meconopsis (which, however, aren't consistently monocarpic) and Cardiocrinum. Lychnis coronaria definitely isn't monocarpic.
I would call Lychnis coronaria a short-lived perennial, but I might be misled by its relative intolerance of winter wet.
It usually behaves as a biennial.
It typically forms a rosette the first years and then flowers itself to death the second year without forming offsets.
The wet winters here never bother mine.
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