By: Morgan Osborn, Texas A&M University '16
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| A white-tailed deer utilizing the diverse plant community of grasses and grass-like plants, forbs, trees, and shrubs |
Many forbs are essential in maintaining a healthy northern bobwhite
diet (Hernández and Peterson 2007). It is helpful to know how forbs are
important, but this information is not very handy if you don’t know what a forb
is. So, what is a forb, anyways? In order to understand what a forb is, it is easier to first understand what a forb is not: a grass-like or woody species.
Grass and grass-like plants come in 3 main varieties: grasses
(Poaceae), rushes (Juncaceae), and sedges (Cyperaceae), all displaying the
general characteristics attributed to grass. These plants possess
leaf blades that are generally elongated and flat but can also be shorter or
rolled into a circular blade (Diggs et al. 1999). Grass and grass-like plants do not produce inflorescence
that is typically thought of as a flower, and generally flower in spikelets
with a scaly outer covering as opposed to petals (Diggs et al. 1999). Aside
from the importance of grasses and grass-like plants to grazers, seeds produced from
grasses are staples in many diets, including our own; the cereal grains, corn,
wheat, and rice, are all found within Poaceae, the grass family (Diggs et al.
1999).
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| Examples of grass (top left, bottom) and sedge (top right) inflorescence and leaf blades |
Woody
species are easy to distinguish due to the hard outer layer of the stems and
roots that eventually turns into bark. These species include trees, woody
vines, and shrubs. Although some plants may be large and have a thick stem, only
plants with a secondary outer layer covering the delicate cambium are
considered to be woody (Diggs et al. 1999). In other words, woody plants have a
layer of rigid bark that covers the internal softer layers of plant tissue.
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| Example of a hickory tree (top) and a yaupon shrub (bottom). Examples of differing types of bark on a hickory (top) and eastern redcedar (bottom) are also present |
Once it has been determined the plant in question is not a
grass-like or woody species, it is probably a forb. Forbs are described as plants
that are not grass-like and do not become woody, referred to as herbaceous
(Diggs et al. 1999). Generally, forbs are considered broad-leaf, “flowering”
plants, and although this is not always the case or may not be apparent, it is
a good rule of thumb to follow. Most people think of forbs as weeds, but like
the late William Shakespeare once wrote “a rose by any other name would smell
as sweet”. In other words, forbs go by many different names but can still be
beneficial. One of the most apparent benefits of forbs is that many
pollinators, including bees and butterflies, are attracted by native forbs. Monarch butterflies rely solely on milkweed, a native forb, as the food source
and host plant of their larvae (MJV 2015).
 Examples of common forbs: poison oak (top left), western ragweed (top right), silverleaf croton (bottom left) and green briar (bottom right) |
Many animals rely on a mosaic of
these vegetation types in order to survive. For example, good bobwhite habitat
consists of many different types of cover involving all three vegetation types,
with grasses and forbs offering their main food supply (Hernández and Peterson
2007). Forbs can be easily overlooked
when trying to manage for other types of vegetation. Cover surveys can be utilized to determine the
abundance of each foliage type in a given area, allowing landowners and
managers a more complete picture of the plant diversity on their land. If forbs
or other vegetation types are determined to be a limiting
factor, several techniques, including prescribed
burning and disking,
can be applied to help restore natural densities.
Work Cited:
Hernández, F., M. J. Peterson. 2007. Northern Bobwhite
Ecology and Life History. Pages 41-64. Brennan, L. A., editor. 2007.
Texas Quails Ecology and Management. Texas A&M University Press, College
Station, USA.
Monarch Joint Venture (MJV). 2015. Life Cycle.
<http://monarchjointventure.org/monarch-biology/life-cycle/>. Accessed 9
June 2015.
Diggs, G. M., Jr., B. L. Lipscomb, and R. J. O’Kennon. 1999.
Shinners & Mahler’s Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas. Botanical
Research Institute of Texas, Fort Worth, Texas, USA.