Section B. General Characters and Character States:
VII. Temporal Phenomena

A. Periodicity
(Recurrence of growth phenomena at regular time intervals; or seasonality of occurrence of plant growth phenomena)

Aestival. Appearing in summer.

Aianthous or Semperflorous. With flowers appearing throughout the year.

Annotinal or Yearly. Appearing yearly.

Autumnal. Appearing in autumn.

Biferous. Appearing twice yearly.

Biflorous. Flowering in autumn as well as in spring.

Bimestrial. Occurring every two months.

Diurnal. Opening during the day.

Equinoctial. Having flowers which expand and close regularly at particular hours of the day.

Hibernal or Hiemal. Appearing in the winter.

Matutinal. With flowers opening in the morning.

Nocturnal. Opening during night.

Seasonally. Occurring during a seasonal cycle, or each season.

Serotinal. Opening late; appearing in late summer.

Vernal. Appearing in spring.

Vespertine. With flowers opening in the evening or night; appearing or expanding in the evening.

B. Maturation
(Relative development time of different plant organs or parts)

Anthesis. Time of flowering; opening of flower with parts available for pollination.

Blastocarpous. Germination of seeds while within the pericarp, as in Rhizophora.

Coetaneous. Flowering as the leaves expand; synantherous.

Dichogamous. With maturation of stamens or anther and carpels or stigma at different times.

Homogamous. With maturation of stamens or anther and carpels or stigma at same time.

Hysteranthous. With leaves appearing after flowers.

Precocious. Developing unusually early.

Proanthesis. Flowering before normal period, as spring flowers in the fall.

Protandrous. With stamens or anthers developing before carpels or stigma.

Protantherous. With leaves appearing before flowers.

Protogynous. With carpels or stigma maturing before stamens or anthers.

Synantherous. With leaves and flowers appearing at same time.

C. Duration
(Length of time that a plant or any of its component parts exists)

Annual. Living one year or less.

Biduous. Lasting two days.

Biennial. Living two years, usually flowering second year.

Bimestrial. Lasting two months.

Caducous. Dropping off very early, usually applied to floral parts.

Caulocarpic. Plants having the stem living for many years, bearing flowers and fruits.

Cladoptosic. Shedding of branches, stems and leaves simultaneously, as in Taxodium.

Deciduous. Persistent for one growing season.

Deliquescent. Softening and wasting away.

Ephemeral. Germinating, growing, flowering and fruiting in a short period, as most desert herbs.

Evanescent. Passing away, disappearing early.

Evergreen. Persistent two or more growing seasons.

Fugacious. Ephemeral, usually applied to plant parts.

Marcescent. Usually ephemeral with persistent remains; withering persistent.

Monocarpic, Hapaxanthic. Perennial or annual, flowering and fruiting once, then dying; fruiting once.

Perennial, Polycarpic. Living more than two years; fruiting more than once.

Persistent. Remaining attached; applied to individual parts.

Pliestesial or Multiperennial. Monocarpic but living several to many years before flowering, as in Agave.

Rhizocarpic. Plants having the roots living for many years with the stems dying annually.

Seasonally Deciduous. Falling after one growing season.

Summer Annual. Germinating in spring or early summer and flowering and fruiting in late summer or early fall, then dying.

Winter Annual. Living less than one year but through the winter; germination usually in late fall, and usually flowering and fruiting in early spring.