The plane wave normal incidence acoustic absorption coefficient of five types of low growing plants is measured in the presence and absence of soil. These plants are generally used in green living walls and flower beds. Two types of soil are considered in this work: a light-density, man-made soil and a heavy-density natural clay base soil. The absorption coefficient data are obtained in the frequency range of 50-1600 Hz using a standard impedance tube of diameter 100 mm. The equivalent fluid model for sound propagation in rigid frame porous media proposed by Miki [J. Acoust. Soc. Jpn. (E) 11, 25-28 (1990)] is used to predict the experimentally observed behavior of the absorption coefficient spectra of soils, plants, and their combinations. Optimization analysis is employed to deduce the effective flow resistivity and tortuosity of plants which are assumed to behave acoustically as an equivalent fluid in a rigid frame porous medium. It is shown that the leaf area density and dominant angle of leaf orientation are two key morphological characteristics which can be used to predict accurately the effective flow resistivity and tortuosity of plants.