3 ms·
Trees are also too many things to be one thing. https://eukaryotewritesblog.com/2021/05/02/theres-no-such-thing-as-a-tree/ https://eukaryotewritesblog.com/2021
by vitus 2y ago
Trees are also too many things to be one thing.
https://eukaryotewritesblog.com/2021/05/02/theres-no-such-thing-as-a-tree/ https://eukaryotewritesblog.com/2021/05/02/theres-no-such-th... crops up on HN periodically.
“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.
- quinnirill 2y agoAnd it’s not just ancestors! One thing that blew me away after moving from Finland to Germany was that while willows in Finland are predominantly shrubs or bushes, and maples are trees, in Germany willows grow to be trees, but maples mostly stay as vines.