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> I do not find trees looking similar at all. What trees are you talking about ? or you mean in general ?

Blikkentrekker 5y ago
In general. In particular, many trees grow from a central strem that is nearly perfectly vertical, and many have a more organic growth pattern. I see no reason to assume these have common ancestors that were trees any more than crabs and jellyfish.
- JoBrad 5y ago
  I think you should read the article in a bit more depth, including the Twitter thread linked at the bottom. Some examples where your description doesn’t hold up so well - palm trees - bamboo - fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus) - Hydrangea paniculata - sunflowers - crape myrtles can have so many variations that it’s crazy
  - SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago
    I once cut down a banana tree, with a breadknife. It's not very much like e.g. an oak tree. More like a scaled-up celery.
  - samatman 5y ago
    Bamboo is only considered a tree by people who don't live around any, and don't know any better. It is pretty obviously an enormous grass. Woody? Yes. Tree? No.
    - robbrown451 5y ago
      I agree bamboo doesn't really meet the definition of tree, but many/most people will argue that bamboo (the material) it isn't wood. I disagree with that... it is woody enough to meet my definition, and the non-contiguousness of trees supports that.
      - samatman 5y ago
        I would also argue that bamboo isn't wood, it's a cane. Woody hollow stems which don't grow rings, are canes. If less woody and more herbaceous, it's a reed. The "tiebreaker" if you will, is palm wood. No rings, but it's dense, not hollow, it has a grain and it's lignin-rich. You can make planks with it. It's a weird wood, but it's wood. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_timber https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_timber
        robbrown451 5y ago
        I don't disagree that bamboo is a cane, but that doesn't necessarily make it non-wood. Ultimately "wood" is just a word, people will use it however they do.
        samatman 5y ago
        I agree completely, what I'm trying to do is describe how these words are used by people with a stake in the matter. Woodworkers, for example. Canes take the adjective "woody" but not the noun "wood". Bamboo can make some interesting laminate materials, but these are not normally referred to as wood either, although they are lumber.
        robbrown451 5y ago
        Yeah, either a woodworker or a botanist might have different definitions than "regular people". But "wood" is an everyday word. There are various things in my house -- trays or spoons or boxes or the like -- made of bamboo, but that I would refer to as "wood" simply because I never even looked closely enough to notice that technically it is bamboo (or maybe I have, but the distinction seems extremely minor in practice). I've done a fair amount of woodworking, but I don't think I've ever worked with bamboo. But if I were to, I'd be a lot more attuned to the distinction.
    - JoBrad 5y ago
      I was listing plants that don’t fit with the parent comment’s “tree” definition.
      - samatman 5y ago
        Ah, that wasn't entirely clear to me, this makes more sense. Palm trees do "grow from a central stem that is nearly perfectly vertical", and are woody, and conventionally are considered trees. Bamboo matches both of those criteria, in fact, but it has a "just look at it" grassness to it. Growing in clusters from rhizomes is pretty un-tree-like, but no one of these things is diagnostic. What is and isn't a tree is more cultural than biological, which is, I believe, the original author's point.

In general. In particular, many trees grow from a central strem that is nearly perfectly vertical, and many have a more organic growth pattern. I see no reason to assume these have common ancestors that were trees any more than crabs and jellyfish.

JoBrad 5y ago
I think you should read the article in a bit more depth, including the Twitter thread linked at the bottom. Some examples where your description doesn’t hold up so well - palm trees - bamboo - fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus) - Hydrangea paniculata - sunflowers - crape myrtles can have so many variations that it’s crazy
- SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago
  I once cut down a banana tree, with a breadknife. It's not very much like e.g. an oak tree. More like a scaled-up celery.
- samatman 5y ago
  Bamboo is only considered a tree by people who don't live around any, and don't know any better. It is pretty obviously an enormous grass. Woody? Yes. Tree? No.
  - robbrown451 5y ago
    I agree bamboo doesn't really meet the definition of tree, but many/most people will argue that bamboo (the material) it isn't wood. I disagree with that... it is woody enough to meet my definition, and the non-contiguousness of trees supports that.
    - samatman 5y ago
      I would also argue that bamboo isn't wood, it's a cane. Woody hollow stems which don't grow rings, are canes. If less woody and more herbaceous, it's a reed. The "tiebreaker" if you will, is palm wood. No rings, but it's dense, not hollow, it has a grain and it's lignin-rich. You can make planks with it. It's a weird wood, but it's wood. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_timber https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_timber
      - robbrown451 5y ago
        I don't disagree that bamboo is a cane, but that doesn't necessarily make it non-wood. Ultimately "wood" is just a word, people will use it however they do.
        samatman 5y ago
        I agree completely, what I'm trying to do is describe how these words are used by people with a stake in the matter. Woodworkers, for example. Canes take the adjective "woody" but not the noun "wood". Bamboo can make some interesting laminate materials, but these are not normally referred to as wood either, although they are lumber.
        robbrown451 5y ago
        Yeah, either a woodworker or a botanist might have different definitions than "regular people". But "wood" is an everyday word. There are various things in my house -- trays or spoons or boxes or the like -- made of bamboo, but that I would refer to as "wood" simply because I never even looked closely enough to notice that technically it is bamboo (or maybe I have, but the distinction seems extremely minor in practice). I've done a fair amount of woodworking, but I don't think I've ever worked with bamboo. But if I were to, I'd be a lot more attuned to the distinction.
  - JoBrad 5y ago
    I was listing plants that don’t fit with the parent comment’s “tree” definition.
    - samatman 5y ago
      Ah, that wasn't entirely clear to me, this makes more sense. Palm trees do "grow from a central stem that is nearly perfectly vertical", and are woody, and conventionally are considered trees. Bamboo matches both of those criteria, in fact, but it has a "just look at it" grassness to it. Growing in clusters from rhizomes is pretty un-tree-like, but no one of these things is diagnostic. What is and isn't a tree is more cultural than biological, which is, I believe, the original author's point.