Plants Are Trees.

[THOaken]

Hi all. I hate to be a bit of a pedant here, but this is quite a common misconception that I see often, but I didn't expect it to see it on BCUK. On the Flora and Fauna sub-section I noticed you have in the description "animals, plants, trees..." I've been here since Jan 2013 and hadn't noticed it before.

Again, I don't mean to sound rude. Just pointing it out.

 

[mick91]

I think it's more on common naming than being accurate

 

[Toddy]

It's a bit like humans are apes.

It keeps things easy for the searches using plants & trees in the subsection titles.

M

 

[Palaeocory]

If you want to be pedantic, it might be better to flip it... all trees are plants.

I like Colin Tudge's definition of a tree (in his chapter What is a Tree?, in The Secret Life of Trees) as "a tree is a big plant with a stick up the middle".

So... it's not a misconception. It's a common division.

 

[rik_uk3]

Palm trees are grass.

 

[THOaken]

If you want to be pedantic, it might be better to flip it... all trees are plants.

I like Colin Tudge's definition of a tree (in his chapter What is a Tree?, in The Secret Life of Trees) as "a tree is a big plant with a stick up the middle".

So... it's not a misconception. It's a common division.

Yep, my mistake. I realised that after I posted, but I wasn't sure how to change the title. I meant "trees are plants."

There is a fundamental division between herbaceous plants and long living woody trees, however they are still both plants in every way. Although I guess it's in such common usage "plants" has come to mean wildflowers and all sorts such as pteridophytes to most. It just seems strange to me to separate trees from plants.

 

[Harvestman]

Don't you love it when you get it wrong whilst being pedantic?

It usually happens to me whilst pointing out other people's spelling mistakes. I'm a pedant too.

 

[THOaken]

Don't you love it when you get it wrong whilst being pedantic?

It usually happens to me whilst pointing out other people's spelling mistakes. I'm a pedant too.

Oh yes, it's great fun

I felt a bit silly when I looked at my title after posting it. I wouldn't say I got it wrong though, I just wrote the title in the wrong order!

 

[sunndog]

I wouldn't say I got it wrong though, I just wrote the title in the wrong order!

all the right notes.........but not necessarily in the right order eh, yep we believe you

 

[Goatboy]

Hmmm, if we are going to start splitting hairs what are we going to do with lichen & fungi.
Maybe flora & fauna would be a better encapsulation?

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

 

[dennydrewcook]

is a coppiced tree a tree? a definition of a tree is a plant above 15ft with one stem so surely it's not a tree, does this mean coppiced trees need their own section? 😉😂


denny 😊

 

[British Red]

Or indeed that there is no such thing as a bonsai tree?


Artificial and arbitrary classification always makes me laugh. How do you classify lichen is a great example. Rather like is a virus alive...or the egg laying mammals!

People get so fervent that they forget that these classifications are entirely invented. Things get reclassified all the time. Not so much because the initial assessment was wrong, but more that life and the universe are infinitely varied and, thankfully, defy attempts to pigeonhole them.

 

[Goatboy]

While we're clarifying stuff there's also no such.thing as a simple and straight answer on BCUK. And that's why I love it so much. A more varied, intelligent sharp/obtuse, oddball and fun bunch of folk I've yet to meet.
It's why I love it here.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

 

[mick91]

As for the 15ft malarkey I have a tree in the garden that's about 10 feet tall and I would argue that it's definitely a tree mind. Apart from anything my lawnmower won't go over the top of it that gives it away. After this it's tempting to just gravel the lot so least I know what it is then!

 

[mick91]

While we're clarifying stuff there's also no such.thing as a simple and straight answer on BCUK. And that's why I love it so much. A more varied, intelligent sharp/obtuse, oddball and fun bunch of folk I've yet to meet.
It's why I love it here.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

I think it's the years of inhaling campfire/gas/meths/hexy fumes GB. Or because when we're on here were cooped up indoors, we're an odd bunch, having a ceiling does things to us!

 

[Goatboy]

I think it's the years of inhaling campfire/gas/meths/hexy fumes GB. Or because when we're on here were cooped up indoors, we're an odd bunch, having a ceiling does things to us!

I think you may be right, the roof over our head acts as an inverse tinfoil hat. The lathe & plaster over our heads acts like a Faraday cage and causes our stranger thoughts to concentrate and bounce back into our heads. When out doors these dissipate and are absorbed by the tree canopy.






Or we're a strange bunch who hide out in woodland with pointy things eating biscuits.

On the tree front deffinition of what's a tree and what's a shrub also differ from country to country. Likes of Germany tend to go for tall, slender single stem jobs whereas we in the UK tend to think of heavier multi branched jobbies.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

 

[Joonsy]

is a coppiced tree a tree? a definition of a tree is a plant above 15ft with one stem so surely it's not a tree

Not according to the judge Mr. Justice Cranston, during a court case over a dispute about a tree preservation order he actually had to define ''what is a tree'', he ruled that a sapling of any size is a tree, and even one which has not yet sprouted from the woodland floor is a tree. He concluded that there is no statutory definition of a tree so ruled that there is no size limit to what is a tree therefore tree preservation orders extend to all trees ''even if not in existence at the time''.

When is a tree not a tree, court ruling link below

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/84797/When-is-a-tree-not-a-tree

Regarding trees being plants, I wondered what was keeping me awake at night, perhaps I will sleep better now I know

 

[Robson Valley]

I'm a retired botany/dendrology professor. Any definition of "tree", or otherwise, is no more or less than an expression of convenience.
Of course, it varies from one region to the next so live with that.

For example: a text for the identification of trees. How to draw some sort of a line to separate "tree" from other woody plants, usually called "shrubs."
In addition to primary root & shoot growth, they all exhibit secondary (lateral) woody growth.
The editorial decision was to consider a "tree" as any woody plant big enough for the harvest of useful pieces. Utensils come to mind here.

I suggest we pick 3 or 4 definitions and use them by the handful.

 

[boatman]

Puzzled by the Judge's decision, when we were looking to trim an ancient hedge the planning people defined that which was preserved as having a certain diameter which implies that saplings and younger trees cannot fall into control orders. Sensible really as it means rogue sycamores and others could be removed.

 

[boatman]

Further thought, restoring hazel coppice would be difficult if not impossible if all the oversize trunks were protected.