In this short review, I will first summarize criteria by which environments can be considered "cold", with plant stature (size, height above ground) playing a central role for the climate actually experienced. Plants adapted to such environments have to cope with both extremes and with gradual influences of low temperature. The first requires freezing resistance, which is tightly coupled to developmental state (phenology) and prehistory (acclimation). Gradual low temperature constraints affect the growth process (meristems) long before they affect photosynthetic carbon gain. Hence, plants growing in cold climates are commonly not carbon limited.
Keywords: biogeography; climate; development; freezing; growth; phenology; stress.