There’s no such thing as a tree.
And as a QI fan, I feel compelled to add there’s no such thing as a fish
Palms
Submitted 4 months ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to science_memes@mander.xyz
https://mander.xyz/pictrs/image/23db97b1-70ad-42d6-86ec-88838366ed1a.jpeg
Comments
Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de 4 months ago
Thorry84@feddit.nl 4 months ago
No such thing as a tree? So you mean all those binary trees I’ve been inverting have been a lie? My whole world is shattered.
flora_explora@beehaw.org 4 months ago
Indeed, it simply is not a phylogenetic categorization but a physio-ecological one. Tree, like shrub, liana, herbaceous, woody/non-woody are all terms solely used to place plants into functional groups based on how they grow. None of these has to do with their taxonomy.
So the question is, what is a tree and is having secondary growth necessary to be one? Because monocots, like palms are, don’t have secondary growth, they use some workarounds. But why should that matter in the definition of a tree? I don’t know. So yeah, a coconut palm should be considered a tree. But it hasn’t got to do with phylogenetics (like explained in the article you linked).
Also, millennia ago there have been vast forests of lycopods!! Just imagine huge trees that are actually spikemosses. So why shouldn’t a palm not be a tree?
Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 4 months ago
my definition of a tree is basically “a plant consisting of a single pillar-like robust trunk”.
most plants can be trees, especially ones that generally grow as bushes, if they are prodded into doing so by pruning and whatever other pressures, and there are some plants that seem to flip a coin to decide whether they grow into bushes or trees.
MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 4 months ago
Of plants native to the Canary Islands, wood independently evolved at least 38 times!
dohpaz42@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Uou forgot about the myth of vegetables.
Etterra@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Except that yes there is. It’s just not a scientific term. Same with fish.
fossilesque@mander.xyz 4 months ago
GlennMagusHarvey@mander.xyz 4 months ago
A local park ranger I know likes to remark that our state tree is a grass. (I’m in Florida.)
But I’d say that’s also inaccurate. IMO, grasses are in the family Poaceae, and palms are in the family Arecaceae. I guess one could remark that our state tree is a commelinid…but I don’t think tourists would get as much of a kick out of that.
flora_explora@beehaw.org 4 months ago
Typical trees belong to a group of plants called dicots
Whaaaat? Swiftly ignoring all gymnosperms? The temperate zones are full of trees that aren’t dicots, or even angiosperms! Focusing on some biological traits that aren’t crucial to the definition of a tree sounds like the author already likes their neat categories and wants to retroactively justify them…
Dasus@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Halt! I’m here to check the expiry date of your facts!
criitz@reddthat.com 4 months ago
Neat read, thanks
Reddfugee42@lemmy.world 4 months ago
There’s no widely-accepted scientific definition of a tree.
##PeopleCorrectingPeopleIncorrectly
dannoffs@hexbear.net 4 months ago
This is a reminder that there is no universally accepted botanical definition of tree. It is also a reminder that usage supersedes definition, so pointing out that coconut palm trees aren’t “trees” makes you both annoying and wrong.
manuallybreathing@lemmy.ml 4 months ago
The definition of tree exists within the context of all that came before it? 🌴
joyjoy@lemm.ee 4 months ago
Only in the context of biology and evolution, which the right doesn’t understand.
fossilesque@mander.xyz 4 months ago
Mmmmm, I’d say specialists would not use the broader definitions that are more colloquial. Generally, trees are woody plants with secondary growth and they aren’t monocots.
dannoffs@hexbear.net 4 months ago
scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C3&q=c…
Someone should tell the authors of these hundreds of papers then.
Downcount@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Wait, what?
fossilesque@mander.xyz 4 months ago
Palms, like corn, are really tall grass.
Not_mikey@slrpnk.net 4 months ago
Conifers aren’t trees by this definition. It seems to completely ignore gymnosperms and even misclassified a couple as dicots like sequoias and junipers.
We need to stop looking for a scientifically coherent category for a tree and embrace the true, intuitive, childlike definition of it as just a form, like a fish.
GlennMagusHarvey@mander.xyz 4 months ago
How many social credit points do I lose if I refer to bamboo products as “wood” outside of botany nerd circles?
ctenidium@lemmy.world 4 months ago
“Trees” have secondary groth while “palms” have primary growth. At least that is what I have been told in dendrology lectures.
FiskFisk33@startrek.website 4 months ago
true enough, that doesn’t exclude them from being trees though.
NorthWestWind@lemmy.world 4 months ago
From the coco palm family!
GlennMagusHarvey@mander.xyz 4 months ago
🎵 Ya ya ya ya ya 🎵
juliebean@lemm.ee 4 months ago
it looks like a tree and quacks like a tree though.
Reddfugee42@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Ironically, in this case, that literally means it’s a tree
HelixDab2@lemm.ee 4 months ago
Okay, and raspberries aren’t technically berries at all, but aggregate fruits. In other words, so the fuck what? When you say ‘coconut tree’, everyone knows what plant you’re referring to.
DumbAceDragon@sh.itjust.works 4 months ago
Trees are the plant version of crabs.
Abracadaniel@hexbear.net 4 months ago
birds are dinosaurs
dannoffs@hexbear.net 4 months ago
Fuck it, birds are trees.
GlennMagusHarvey@mander.xyz 4 months ago
Zier@fedia.io 4 months ago
Birds are not real
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VEkzweBJPM
robocall@lemmy.world 4 months ago
You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you 🌴🥥🍹
pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 4 months ago
It’s probably going to be political since it’s wrong.
The coconut tree (Cocos nucifera) is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus Cocos. The term “coconut” (or the archaic “cocoanut”) can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which botanically is a drupe, not a nut. They are ubiquitous in coastal tropical regions and are a cultural icon of the tropics.
fossilesque@mander.xyz 4 months ago
I’m off to edit that wiki, the tree is a bit of a misnomer.
pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 4 months ago
I see a fight coming your way in the talk section, lol. Good luck.
FiskFisk33@startrek.website 4 months ago
Yeah, good luck with that.
In wider definitions, the taller palms, tree ferns, bananas, and bamboos are also trees.
GlennMagusHarvey@mander.xyz 4 months ago
Time to post one of my favorite songs:
(“Da Coconut Nut”, by Ryan Cayabyab. This version is probably the one performed by his group, Smokey Mountain.)
JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 4 months ago
I have literature right here that says otherwise.
Ahem…
“A told B, and B told C, I’ll beat you to the top of the coconut tree.”
EleventhHour@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Da palm grows da coconut and turns da election around
Vampire@hexbear.net 4 months ago
I disagree.
Cadeillac@lemmy.world 4 months ago
You can tell it’s an Aspen from the way it is
Button777777@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Thats pretty neat!
MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 4 months ago
Of plants native to the Canary Islands, wood independently evolved at least 38 times!
big_slap@lemmy.world 4 months ago
science has gone too far with this one!!
Etterra@lemmy.world 4 months ago
“Tree” isn’t a biological definition. It’s a descriptive term for “a tall plant with at least one rigid central trunk.” Which means that anything that looks like a tree is probably a tree, regardless of species.
caseyweederman@lemmy.ca 4 months ago
I am a tree
cicadagen@ani.social 4 months ago
Ayy, welcome to the tree club!
TheOakTree@lemm.ee 4 months ago
We welcome you to tree-hood, my fellow arbor
ICastFist@programming.dev 4 months ago
Do you get pollinated by birds and bees?