The Life cycle view is used to describe the general stature, growth habit, and life cycle of the specimen.

	Item	Notes
1	Life form	This is usually "terrestrial" for most angiosperms and gymnosperms.  Use this item to classify plants as bryophyte (mosses, liverworts, hornworts), epiphyte (air plants), or aquatic (plants living in water).
2	Life cycle	Describes in layman's terms how a plant progresses from germination to death, something like: annual, biennial or perennial.
3	Life span	The typical longevity of the plant.  This should be one year for annuals, two years for biennials, and a range of years (two or more) for perennials.
4	Annual cycle	Defines whether this is a deciduous or evergreen species.  This is only applicable to perennials.
5	Stature	In gardener's terms, what type of plant is this:  tree, shrub, vine, groundcover, flower, etc.
6	Growth form	If this is a tree or shrub how does its visual form appear from a distance:  dense, compact, pyramidal, and so forth.
7	Growth habit	If this is a groundcover, vine or flower does it grow upright without support or does it tend to stay close to the ground: ascending, climbing, mound forming, spreading, and the like.
8	Overall height	How tall is a typical specimen at maturity.
9	Overall spread	How wide is a typical specimen at maturity.  This is often referred to by nursery labels as "planting distance" or "spacing".