Fruticosus
/froo-tih-KOH-sus/🏷️ Taxonomy●● Intermediate
Also known as: fruticosa, fruticosum
A habit epithet indicating the plant is shrubby — woody at the base with multiple stems, rather than herbaceous or tree-like. It distinguishes shrubby species from herbaceous relatives in the same genus and signals the plant's woody permanence in the garden. Appears as fruticosus (masculine), fruticosa (feminine), or fruticosum (neuter).
Etymology
From Latin fruticosus, meaning "full of shoots" or "shrubby," from frutex/fruticis (a shrub, bush).
Example
“Potentilla fruticosa (shrubby cinquefoil) is the classic example — a woody, multi-stemmed shrub in a genus that also contains many soft-stemmed herbaceous species, the epithet immediately distinguishing it.”