In a manner characteristic of herbs; with the soft, green texture and appearance of herbaceous plants rather than woody ones.
From 'herbaceous' (adjective describing non-woody plants) + '-ly' (adverb suffix). 'Herbaceous' comes from Latin 'herba' (grass, plant), referring to plants with soft stems rather than bark.
When botanists say a plant grows 'herbaceously,' they're saying it stays soft and green year-round instead of developing hard wood—and most plants are actually herbaceous, it's the trees that are the weird ones.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.