22-09-2004, 08:25 PM
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(Iris Cohen) wrote in
:
most definitions of trees include some means of
distinguishing them from shrubs, generally height.
The one I am familiar with is that a shrub is a woody plant which
is usually under ten feet tall & has multiple stems. A tree is
usually over ten feet tall & usually has a single stem.
What about dwarf trees which are way under ten feet tall & might
have multiple trunks, like a dwarf birch? I would assume if the
standard plant is a tree, the dwarf form is also called a tree.
Tsuga canadensis 'Minuta' is still a tree, albeit 3" tall.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the
oncoming train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)
Quercus havardii generally only gets about a meter high, a dwarf
birch may be the result of breeding, sport, or a species tendency to
be small. If those are the cases, then it is a shrub. You can prune
elms to stay shrub sized, and they are shrubs till you let them go.
If you breed something to change its form, you have guess
what...changed its form. The T. canadensis 'Minuta' wouldn't be a
tree if it never gets over 3 inches tall, or even if it doesn't get
over 3 feet tall, just as a human dwarf or midget isn't going to
find clothes in the Big & Tall section. Still a human, but not a
giant.
Sean
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