Three groups of species (21 herbaceous monocotyledons, 22 herbaceous dicotyledons and 16 woody dicotyledons), including representatives of a wide range of natural habitats and life forms in inland Britain, were grown in the seedling phase in a resource-rich controlled environment and assessed over a 14-day period (21 d in the case of woody species). Mean values of relative growth rate (RGR), unit leaf rate (ULR), leaf area ratio (LAR), leaf weight fraction (LWF), specific leaf area (SLA), and the root–shoot allometric coefficient were derived.

In herbaceous species, the grand mean RGR was 0·20 d−1, comparable to values previously recorded. For woody species, the mean was 0·09 d−1. An existing assumption linking high RGR to high allocation to photosynthetic biomass was upheld by comparisons made between groups. Within groups, however, no pattern of this kind could be demonstrated.

When photosynthetically active radiation was increased from 125 to 250 µmol m−2 s−1, ULR was increased almost pro rata. The parallel response in RGR was only slight, being offset by considerable reductions in LAR. The apparent mean quantum yield for photosynthesis in herbaceous species (whole-plant d. wt basis) was 0·60 g mol−1.

There was no significant dependence of RGR on ULR in any of the three groups of species, although the absolute magnitude of ULR declined in the order: herbaceous monocotyledons > herbaceous dicotyledons > woody dicotyledons. In all three groups, RGR was strongly dependent upon LAR but no differences emerged in absolute scale of LAR. The absolute scale of mean LWF decreased from herbaceous to woody species, but the dependence of LAR on LWF strengthened. Groups showed no systematic differences in magnitude of SLA, but the correlation of LAR with SLA was strong throughout.

Multiple regression showed that the leading determinants of RGR were ULR and SLA in herbaceous species and LWF in woody species. Principal components analyses (PCA) on each of the three groups explained at least 77% of variation and agreed closely with an optimal (non-hierarchical) classification. Only six cluster ‘types’ were recognized out of the 16 theoretically possible combinations of ‘high’ or ‘low’ values of the four growth parameters. Strong evidence of evolutionary trade-offs emerged, most strikingly in that high RGR was never seen in combination with low SLA. The morphological/physiological types identified by an all-groups PCA separated woody from the herbaceous species, but dicotyledons were almost congruent with the monocotyledons.

The non-growth-analytical attributes most strongly correlated with mean RGR were percentage yield at a low level of mineral nutrients, leaf nitrogen concentration, and seed weight. It was concluded that mean RGR plays a central role in the identification of pathways of evolutionary specialization in herbaceous species.