biennial plant

Plant that completes its life cycle in two years. During the first year it grows vegetatively and the surplus food produced is stored in its perennating organ, usually the root. In the following year these food reserves are used for the production of leaves, flowers, and seeds, after which the plant dies. Many root vegetables are biennials, including the carrot Daucus carota and parsnip Pastinaca sativa. Some garden plants that are grown as biennials are actually perennials, for example, the wallflower Cheiranthus cheiri.