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There's No Such Thing As A 'Tree'

EnolaGaia

I knew the job was dangerous when I took it ...
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The idea that there's no such thing as a tree doesn't mean the plants we call trees don't exist at all. Instead, it illuminates the fact that 'tree' is a sort of loosely attributed descriptor that doesn't occupy a specific place in any formal taxonomic system.

There’s no such thing as a tree (phylogenetically)​

So you’ve heard about how fish aren’t a monophyletic group? You’ve heard about carcinization, the process by which ocean arthropods convergently evolve into crabs? You say you get it now? Sit down. Sit down. Shut up. Listen. You don’t know nothing yet.
“Trees” are not a coherent phylogenetic category. On the evolutionary tree of plants, trees are regularly interspersed with things that are absolutely, 100% not trees. This means that, for instance, either:
  • The common ancestor of a maple and a mulberry tree was not a tree.
  • The common ancestor of a stinging nettle and a strawberry plant was a tree.
  • And this is true for most trees or non-trees that you can think of.
I thought I had a pretty good guess at this, but the situation is far worse than I could have imagined. ...
FULL STORY: https://eukaryotewritesblog.com/2021/05/02/theres-no-such-thing-as-a-tree/
 
I find it funny that balsa, which is the lightest and one of the softest woods, is actually classified as a hardwood.
Apparently, it is classified as a hardwood purely because it has broad-leaves ~ nothing to do with the wood itself which seems kind'a daft calling it a hardwood. Maybe working woods should be re-classified by there internal structure rather than by there botanical parts?
 
The idea that there's no such thing as a tree doesn't mean the plants we call trees don't exist at all. Instead, it illuminates the fact that 'tree' is a sort of loosely attributed descriptor that doesn't occupy a specific place in any formal taxonomic system.

FULL STORY: https://eukaryotewritesblog.com/2021/05/02/theres-no-such-thing-as-a-tree/

Yep, makes sense to me. But then I studied botany and horticulture!

All 'trees' are plants - but not all plants are trees, even though they may look like what we think of as a 'tree'. Banana 'trees' being a good example.

A bit like calling all gull-like sea birds 'seagulls' - there are members of the gull family of birds, living at or near the sea but no such animal as a seagull.
 
All 'trees' are plants - but not all plants are trees, even though they may look like what we think of as a 'tree'. Banana 'trees' being a good example.

so, wassa bannananana tree then?
 
I bloody hate semantics (imagine grouchy face here).
 
so, wassa bannananana tree then?

The big varieties are tall (monocotyledenous as are grasses, inc bamboo) herbaceous plants that mostly self-perpetutate by either seeds (in wild varieties) or by offshoots (baby plants that grow out of the side or roots) - they have no bark or woody exterior with the living tissue and fluid transport directly just under this (which is how 'trees' grow). Some banana plants are just very BIG and because of the location of where they grow, are rarely killed or cut down by frosts/cold weather, just get bigger and 'tree' sized :) .
 
The big varieties are tall (monocotyledenous as are grasses, inc bamboo) herbaceous plants that mostly self-perpetutate by either seeds (in wild varieties) or by offshoots (baby plants that grow out of the side or roots) - they have no bark or woody exterior with the living tissue and fluid transport directly just under this (which is how 'trees' grow). Some banana plants are just very BIG and because of the location of where they grow, are rarely killed or cut down by frosts/cold weather.


Thank you! fascinating...
 
Thank you! fascinating...
You're very welcome! Banana species are somewhat related to plants like ginger and turmeric, in that the fleshy stalk [trunk] emerges with the leaves gradually unfurling and growing out as spiral around it as the stem extends upwards. It's just that banana plants can grow up to 40 feet high!!
 
Yep, makes sense to me. But then I studied botany and horticulture!

All 'trees' are plants - but not all plants are trees, even though they may look like what we think of as a 'tree'. Banana 'trees' being a good example.

A bit like calling all gull-like sea birds 'seagulls' - there are members of the gull family of birds, living at or near the sea but no such animal as a seagull.
All Inuits are eskimos but not all eskimos are Inuits
 
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