←back to thread

501 points thunderbong | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.478s | source
Show context
soco ◴[] No.42150283[source]
I really expected a wood(en) frog here, qualifying truly as a biological miracle. But the wood frogs are cool as well.
replies(1): >>42150799 #
furyofantares ◴[] No.42150799[source]
Oh god. This made me wonder, what is wood, anyway? And I've just come away much more confused.

Bamboo is a grass and doesn't come from a tree. Palm wood comes from palm trees, except palm tree trunks are apparently a totally different type of structure than other tree trunks, sounds closer to Papyrus. No growth rings, a fiber type structure. Is Papyrus wood?

Any plant matter above a certain density? I don't think that's it. Corn stalks aren't wood.

Man, I don't know. I am certain that it must be plant matter though, so yes, a wooden frog would be a biological miracle.

replies(5): >>42151025 #>>42151840 #>>42152361 #>>42152669 #>>42152898 #
1. yial ◴[] No.42151025[source]
Wood is secondary xylem produced by growth from the vascular Cambium. (Sometimes? I think the issue is that there’s more than one definition of wood depending on context …?). Growth rings?

But palm trees aren’t truly trees, right ? Just called trees…. They’re more of a tree like shrub? I think.

replies(1): >>42151163 #
2. furyofantares ◴[] No.42151163[source]
Trying to learn about this through claude was kinda funny.

Ask it to tell me about wood that doesn't come from trees, and it tells me about palm wood. I say, but doesn't that come from palm trees? It says palm trees aren't technically trees because their trunk isn't wooden.

Anyway, with your definition palm wood wouldn't be wood, and neither would bamboo. Feels like the vegetable/fruit thing though, there just isn't a perfect answer.