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Actually I don't know the difference. I have tried to now the difference between the two but I couldn't that is why I came to this website. Please I need to know because it is part of my agricultural science assignment.

Chidimma Okorie Esther
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  • @Rob "Google" isn't very useful advice, because almost everything on the web about "biannual plants" is wrong. – alephzero Feb 19 '19 at 18:15
  • Biannual is usually a misspelling of biennial - the term 'biannual' is not recognised in horticulture. Explanations given in the answer below are accurate in terms of defining a biennial plant. – Bamboo Feb 19 '19 at 19:55
  • Please see my comment responses below. It is explained accurately in the answer. Thank you. – user22542 Feb 20 '19 at 01:31
  • @user22542 - I did read your answer and looked at the links you provided, and in fact referred to your answer in my comment - nonetheless,its still important to point out what I said in my comment., i.e., "biannual" is not a horticultural term and is a misspelling of biennial when used to refer to plants. – Bamboo Feb 20 '19 at 11:54
  • @Bamboo - Sorry for any over-response on my part. I was overwhelmed with the sudden flurry of comments and some of them were wrong. It was late. – user22542 Feb 20 '19 at 12:05
  • @user22542 - well none of the comments was really wrong, to be fair...but its pointless arguing semantics, because what we're talking about here is plants rather than general usage of words. Your answer was complete both from the semantics and horticultural viewpoint, but did not mention botanical usage and spelling always being different from other arenas in this case; for the purposes of an accurate answer to the OP, it needed to be pointed out - I commented rather than post another answer. As, clearly, did others... – Bamboo Feb 20 '19 at 12:24
  • Actually, I wanted to edit "wrong" to "misleading", but it was too late to edit it. And as I said, I over-reacted and thought I needed to clarify the dictionary usages to everyone. I edited the answer, and hopefully it is clearer. Have a good day. – user22542 Feb 20 '19 at 13:31
  • @user22542 - no worries either way... it was a pretty good answer. – Bamboo Feb 20 '19 at 14:14

1 Answers1

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Yes, plant terminology can be confusing. I hope these answer your questions.

A biennial plant is one that takes two years to complete it's life cycle (examples are given in the link below). "Biannual" is a general term not often used with plants, but it can be used to refer to a plant that does something two times (twice) each year (such as produce fruit or flower). Note: This word causes much of the confusion because it can have the same meaning as "biennial" for general English usages and purposes.

A perennial plant is one that lives for more than two years.

An annual plant is one that lives for only one year and must be grown from seed each year.

For the arguments sake, I added the Merriam-Webster dictionary "biannual" definition link below (read about the dual meaning) under "Did you know?" at the link.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biennial_plant

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/biannual

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/biannual

user22542
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    Biannual means "once every two years", not twice a year - that would be semi-annual. The definition for "biennial" is, as Bamboo noted, correct. – Jurp Feb 20 '19 at 00:10
  • It means both in a general sense (not plant related sense). The term is not often used with plants. Please read the links. Possibly you are not understanding the freedictionary definitions. Both definitions are valid and correct in a general sense. – user22542 Feb 20 '19 at 01:22
  • 1. and 2. are given "alternative words used" at the end for each definition, but BOTH 1. and 2.are valid definitions for "biannual". – user22542 Feb 20 '19 at 01:27
  • I added the Merriam-Webster definition link also. Please look down the page at the "Did you know?" section. – user22542 Feb 20 '19 at 02:23
  • @user22542: I think you are too much arguing with dictionaries. I never ever seen "biannual" on botanic term as definition 1. I really think it is always used as "biennial" (*biennes* as used by Linneus [in Latin]). The therm "twice a year" is usually used on the other case, because: less confusing, it is stronger (we talk about yield, so money), and more precise (less about 6 months, but more like around 3 to 4 months twice a year (with still a dormient period). – Giacomo Catenazzi Feb 20 '19 at 08:16