Chamaephyte
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Chamaephytes or dwarf-shrubs are plants that bear hibernating bud on persistent shoots near the ground – woody plants with perennating buds borne close to the ground, no more than 25 cms above soil surface. Chamaephytes are especially important in stressful environments for example in alpine, arctic or dry ecosystems often in combination with herbivors and nutrient poor soils or on rocks. Prominent examples are thyme (Thymus vulgaris, submediterranean dry ecosystems), the different heather species (e.g. Calluna vulgaris, nutrient poor grazing systems), African wild olive (Olea europaea ssp. cuspidata, overgrazed semiarid savanna) and edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum, alpine grasslands).
