1. Plants with perennating buds or shoots located close to the ground surface, typically less than 25 centimeters high; a category in plant life-form classification.
Usage: botanical; plural form; singular is chamaephyte; used in plant ecology and taxonomy

Examples

• Chamaephytes are well-adapted to harsh alpine and arctic environments where taller plants cannot survive.
• The rocky tundra is dominated by chamaephytes such as creeping willows and cushion plants.
• Botanists classify chamaephytes based on their proximity to the soil surface and their survival strategies.
• Many chamaephytes have evolved low-growing forms to reduce exposure to wind and cold.
• In plant life-form systems, chamaephytes occupy an intermediate position between hemicryptophytes and therophytes.