Table A-5 — Key to the Vegetation Element of the Land Classification Framework- 

 Class: Herbaceous Vegetation 1 — Continued 



Class: Herbaceous Vegetation 



Subclass 



Group 



Formation 



Medium tall grassland with 

 an open layer of tuft plants, 

 usually palms (specific 

 examples unknown for 

 U.S.) 



a. Medium tall subtropical 

 grassland with open 

 groves of palms 



C. Short grassland (grasses 

 and forbs are 0.5 m or 

 less tall) 



Medium tall grassland with- 

 out a woody layer (tree or 

 shrub canopy cover is to 

 10 percent) (e.g., needle- 

 grass: wheatgrass) 



1. Short grassland with a tree 



layer (tree canopy cover is 

 11 to 25 percent) (as in 

 subclasses tall grassland 

 and medium tall grass- 

 land—a tree savannah) 



2. Short grassland with a shrub 



layer (Shrub canopy cover 

 is 11 to 25 percent) (as in 

 subclasses tall grassland 

 and medium tall grass- 

 land—a shrub savannah) 



Short grassland with an 

 open layer of tuft plants, 

 usually palms (unknown in 



U.S.) 



Medium tall grassland con- 

 sisting mainly of sod 

 grasses 



Medium tall grassland cons- 

 sisting mainly of bunch 

 grasses 



Woody layer broad-leaved 



evergreen 

 Woody layer broad-leaved 



semi-evergreen 

 Woody layer broad-leaved 



deciduous 



Shrub layer broad-leaved 

 evergreen 



Shrub layer broad-leaved 

 semi-evergreen 



Shrub layer broad-leaved 

 deciduous 



Shrub layer of mainly decid- 

 uous thorny shrubs 



4. Short grassland with an 

 open layer of tuft plants, 

 usually dwarf-shrubs 

 (unknown in U.S.) 



Short grassland without a 

 woody layer (tree or shrub 

 canopy cover is to 10 

 percent) (e.g., blue grama 

 and buffalo grass com- 

 munities) 



Mesophytic grassland (alpine 

 and subalpine meadows) 

 (e.g.. bluegrass and hair- 

 grass communities) 



a. Tropical alpine open to 



closed bunch grass com- 

 munities with a woody 

 layer of tuft plants 



b. Tropical or subtropical al- 



pine bunch grasses with 

 open layer of evergreen 

 dwarf-shrubs 



c. Bunch grasses with dwarf- 



shrubs 



a. Short grass communities 



composed of sod forming 

 species 



b. Short grass communities 



composed of bunch 

 grasses 



a. Sod grass communities, 



usually dominated by 

 hemicrytophytes 



b. Alpine and subalpine mead- 



ows of the higher latitudes 



See footnote at end of table. 



30 



