cactus as a tree?

[Larry Sheldon]

I've got to go back and re-assemble this tread and save if for my pun
loving daughters.



On 3/10/2012 2:28 PM, Michael McKernan wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society<ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Michael McKernan<mckernan51 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: cactus as a tree?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Joshua Tree is classified botanically in the family Asparagaceae (once,
> Agavaceae, if I remember correctly), as Yucca brevifolia (short-leaved
> yucca).  It is definitely not in the family Cactaceae, where botanists
> classify most of the plants commonly referred to as "cactus."  Since it's a
> monocot, what appears to be "trunk" and "branches" are probably composites
> of leaf tissue, perhaps surrounding a pulpy interior.  If so, JTs would
> probably fail the "woody" test for tree-hood, if there were one.  Saguaros
> (and many other Cactaceae), OTOH, have internal wood-like frameworks, so
> perhaps would woody-up if required by some wood pecker.  But this internal
> framework is lattice-like, and quite different from the "solid" wood of a
> typical "tree."
>
> "Palm trees" are another case where the definition of "tree" may be
> somewhat stretched.  Family Arecaceae (monocot angiosperms) includes
> thousands of species, many of which are commonly known as "trees."
> (Coconut palm tree, Cocos nucifera, for instance).
>
> There are also a variety of plants known as "tree ferns," which are not
> angiosperms (like most plants we think of as "trees"), and are classified
> as members of the order Cyatheales.  These may have "tree-like stems up to
> 20 meters tall" (if you trust Wikipedia).  To at least some non-botanists,
> various species have seemed enough like trees to elicit the common name.
>
> I believe that botanists do not use the term "tree" as a technical term, so
> you're barking up the wrong tree if you want to be botanically technical
> about what "tree" means.
>
> Joshua Trees are certainly the most tree-seeming Yucca spp. in North
> America, as Saguaros (Cereus giganteus/Carnegiea gigantea) are the most
> tree-like of the N.A. Cactaceae.  But for botanists, it's not an
> interesting question whether or not either of these species fit "popular"
> definitions of "tree," so they're just not going to go out on a limb about
> this.
>
> Michael McKernan
> Benson, Arizona (just a few miles from the Saguaros of the Sonoran Desert).
>
> On Sat, Mar 10, 2012 at 11:47 AM, Larry Sheldon<LarrySheldon at cox.net>wrote:
>
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>> Sender:       American Dialect Society<ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Larry Sheldon<LarrySheldon at COX.NET>
>> Organization: Maybe tomorrow
>> Subject:      Re: cactus as a tree?
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> On 3/10/2012 9:26 AM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>>
>>>> Look through these and tell me what you see.  Saguaro, Cholla,
>>>> Joshua (Maybe not).
>>>>
>>> Hey, they call it a Joshua tree, not a Joshua "tree".  Of course, it
>>> could be argued that despite its moniker a Joshua tree is no more a
>>> tree than peanut butter is butter. And then there's phone sex.  But
>>> still.
>>
>> My "Maybe not" indicated a question in my mind abort the Joshua Tree's
>> status as a cactus--I'm not sure it is.  (And I see now that I'm not
>> sure what a cactus is.)
>>
>> Bing says:  spiky desert plant: a spiny leafless plant with fleshy stems
>> and branches and often with brilliantly colored flowers
>>
>> Joshua Trees have leaves.
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