Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground, including many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Herbaceous plants include graminoids, forbs, and ferns. Forbs are generally defined as herbaceous broad leafed plants, while graminoids are plants with grass-like appearance including the true grasses, sedges, and rushes. In some botanical sources, the noun "herb" refers to a "plant that does not produce a woody stem", and the adjective "herbaceous" means "herb-like", referring to parts of the plant that are green and soft in texture". The word "herb" has also other meanings in cooking, medicine, and other fields.