We’ve included over 30 of our favourite Medium-sized Edible Shrubs & Bamboo in a quick reference guide. Each plant card links to the original PFAF plant page. https://pfaf.org/user/cmspage.aspx?pageid=335
The quick reference guide includes:
- Common and Scientific names
- Height in Feet and Metres
- The Hardiness Zone
- Light and moisture requirements
- Edible, Medicinal and Other Uses Rating
What is a shrub?
Shrubs are perennial woody plants and therefore have persistent woody stems above ground (compared with succulent stems of herbaceous plants). Usually, shrubs are distinguished from trees by their height and multiple stems. Some shrubs are deciduous (e.g. hawthorn) and others evergreen (e.g. holly).
Small, low shrubs, generally less than 2 m (6.6 ft) tall, such as lavender, periwinkle and most small garden varieties of rose, are often termed subshrubs.
Most definitions characterize shrubs as possessing multiple stems with no main trunk below. This is because the stems have branched below ground level. There are exceptions to this, with some shrubs having main trunks, but these tend to be very short and divide into multiple stems close to ground level without a reasonable length beforehand. Many trees can grow in multiple stemmed forms also while being tall enough to be trees, such as oak or ash.
