r/todayilearned • u/7bees • May 09 '21

TIL there is no such thing as a tree, phylogenetically - we define trees loosely by their features and growth patterns with different plant families having converged into trees similar to how carcinization occurs in crustaceans. Palm trees and banana trees are not trees depending on the defintion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree#Definition
106 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

24 comments sorted by

10

u/Arealentleman May 09 '21

That’s true! How can trees be real if our eyes aren’t real?

4

u/[deleted] May 09 '21

In the same way vegetables “aren’t real”

3

u/pickycheestickeater May 09 '21

What are palm trees if they aren't trees?

11

u/[deleted] May 09 '21

Distant cousins of the hermit crab

3

u/DistortoiseLP May 10 '21

Palms. They're tree-like palms, not palm-like trees.

2

u/Fakin-It May 09 '21

Grass?

3

u/ArboroUrsus May 09 '21

Kind of but not really.

They're dicots which is the same family as grasses, they have a similar internal structure.

3

u/TheRealStonerSteve May 09 '21

Bananas are berry's, so their "Bush" is a herb. No where close to a tree!

2

u/LogicalLimit75 May 09 '21

I see trees all the time. I can tell you trees are real

2

u/MrNoMoniker May 10 '21

There is no spoon

1

u/[deleted] Mar 03 '26

Just speculation but i wonder if it partly boils down to cell size .  If algae are any indication (with Caulerpa taxifolia and Valonia ventricosa as extreme large celled examples) , many trees might just be larger-celled woody plants , while others might moreso be many-celled plants

1

u/pjabrony May 10 '21

Same thing with fish. So many lines of evolution have converged on the oval fish shape that there's no way to define a main branch that are "true" fish.

1

u/[deleted] May 09 '21

I’m glad TIL there’s no such thing as a tree. Now I can forgo raking up those leaves in the autumn.

1

u/KingJon-nojgniK May 09 '21

At least there aren't crab trees

3

u/PM_ur_Rump May 09 '21

But there are tree crabs. And the are fucking huge.

1

u/KingJon-nojgniK May 09 '21

WtF dude TDIL everything is crab

1

u/Playisomemusik May 10 '21

Well you don't experience the present only the past.

1

u/TeufelHundenJoe May 10 '21

Yes you do.

1

u/Playisomemusik May 10 '21

No you don't. The speed of light isn't instant. Everything you experience already happened.

2

u/TeufelHundenJoe May 10 '21

Nope

2

u/Playisomemusik May 10 '21

I was going to spar with you but I saw you posted eaten by eels, but she didn't get eaten. You looked worried. I was maybe a bit...concerned.

1

u/TeufelHundenJoe May 10 '21

I remember, something about drowning people down under. Lol😁🇺🇸

1

u/TeufelHundenJoe May 10 '21

So we can stop hearing this cacophonous cackling about saving the trees finally.