"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.
this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2024
368 points (100.0% liked)
Science Memes
13522 readers
2059 users here now
Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
Rules
- Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
- Infographics welcome, get schooled.
This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.
Research Committee
Other Mander Communities
Science and Research
Biology and Life Sciences
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- !reptiles and [email protected]
Physical Sciences
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
Humanities and Social Sciences
Practical and Applied Sciences
- !exercise-and [email protected]
- [email protected]
- !self [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
Memes
Miscellaneous
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
I am a tree
We welcome you to tree-hood, my fellow arbor
Do you get pollinated by birds and bees?
That's personal
There's no widely-accepted scientific definition of a tree.
##PeopleCorrectingPeopleIncorrectly
Wait, what?
Palms, like corn, are really tall grass.
https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2011/11/06/yes-technically-palms-are-a-big-grass/
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 ,like fish, embrace the true, intuitive, childlike definition of it as just a form, a trunk with leaves at the top.
How many social credit points do I lose if I refer to bamboo products as "wood" outside of botany nerd circles?
I'd say about 69.
Nice.
If I remember correctly, wood consists mainly of cellulose, lignin, and hemi-cellulose. I don't know about bamboo, but I guess it's some kind of woody material.
It’s the lack of lignin (bamboo uses silica as a strengthener) that sets it apart.
But bamboo is a grass, anyways.
Never doubted bamboo not being a grass. But I didn't know about the silica thing - that's really cool!! Thank you for telling this!
load more comments
(1 replies)
"Trees" have secondary growth while "palms" have primary growth. At least that is what I have been told in dendrology lectures.
load more comments
(1 replies)
true enough, that doesn't exclude them from being trees though.
From the coco palm family!
🎵 Ya ya ya ya ya 🎵
it looks like a tree and quacks like a tree though.
Ironically, in this case, that literally means it's a tree
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.
Trees are the plant version of crabs.
You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you 🌴🥥🍹
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.
I'm off to edit that wiki, the tree is a bit of a misnomer.
I see a fight coming your way in the talk section, lol. Good luck.
Nah, it's correct. Just needs a clarifying sentence. They use the word tree but it's not technically a tree, rather tree-like. The word tree is used for ease, colloquially. They grew like this as they are plants well suited for seaside wind and storms, hurricanes... Wetland plants. The grasses that didn't give up. Tree definitions vary from form vs function, and form is used more colloquially.
Edit: Fixed yayayayyay I need more edits this month
No tree is a tree. "Tree" is not a clearly-defined taxonomical category. Anything that is tree-like gets grouped under the catgory "tree".
I think it's arguable that "tree" is just a term for a growth habit rather than anything really taxonomically meaningful.
agreed. my grandma used to have a big ol' tree in her front yard, but it had to get cut down. it didn't die though, and thanks to this unintentional coppicing, it is now an enormous bush. my grandma is very proud of her bush.
load more comments
(1 replies)
Da palm grows da coconut and turns da election around
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.)
This song reminds us that the coconut is not a nut; it is the fruit of the cocopalm.
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."
You can tell it's an Aspen from the way it is
Thats pretty neat!
view more: next ›