Which two growth characteristics are used to identify different groups of plants?

The identification of different groups of plants often relies on their physical form and life cycle characteristics. Physical form refers to the overall structure and shape of the plant, which can include attributes such as whether it is a tree, shrub, or herbaceous plant. Life cycle characteristics describe how the plant grows and reproduces over time, including annuals, perennials, and biennials, which provide essential information about a plant's growth pattern.

These two factors, physical form and life cycle, are key to classifying plants because they influence how plants respond to their environment, their growth habits, and their uses in landscaping or agriculture. This classification can help in understanding ecological interactions, management practices, and conservation efforts for different plant species.

In contrast, while options like plant height and width, color and size, or root depth and foliage type can provide some information about a plant, they do not offer the comprehensive classification needed for identifying the fundamental groups of plants in the same way that physical form and life cycle do. These aspects may vary greatly within a single group and are not sufficient for reliable classification across the entire spectrum of plant diversity.