I was helping a buddy clearing a lot and he told me some of the trees on it were actually massive weeds and were mostly hollow inside unlike regular trees. Others have confirmed that some weeds do grow to the size of trees, but I’m having trouble finding information about them. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Your first problem is that the definition of “weed” is entirely subjective. What kind of plants are you talking about, exactly?
Bamboo. Different species can be found in the US and it is some of the worst plant life to be rid of. Killing in and making it go away forever is not a fun task.
Of course, bamboo isn’t a weed when specifically planted in a garden, or when used as a privacy barrier, etc. I have oak seedlings sprouting in my yard. In that case, trees are the weeds.
Nah, in botany 130, they taught me that a weed is “a plant out of place”
Castor beans’ll grow to 15-20 feet, and have hollow stems. They’re a problem in parts of the country that don’t freeze in winter.
People say this about Ailanthus – that its a huge stem all the way up, not a real tree. But it is actually biologically a tree.
You’re making my point for me. “Out of place” is completely subjective.
I have castor beans planted in my yard. Are they weeds? If not, how exactly do they serve as an answer to the OP? How about the oak seedlings? Are they weeds? They are certainly “out of place.” The OP seems to differentiate between weeds and trees, which therefore brings us to a logical contradiction.
Look, the whole point is that some plants are hollow and others aren’t. Whether or not they are weeds has nothing to do with it.
There is a particular plant that grows in the Southeast united states. It can grow tall (like 20’ and 2’ branches) and has large leaves that look a little bit like a yellow squash plant’s leaves.
He may consider it a weed because it dies every year and comes back every year.
I do not know the name of it, but I would like to know.
I hope it wasn’t a giant hogweed. As you may know, it is immune to all our herbicidal battering.
Pokeweed probably counts as what you’re talking about.
I have a lot of honeysuckle growing on my land. It gets so big that I have to use a chainsaw to clear it out.
Honeysuckle is *everywhere *around here. I hate it. :mad:
Maybe it is a Confederate Rose.
Squink is right; any plant growing where it isn’t wanted is a weed. So we generally consider it to be any variety of “nuisance” plants, but I guess rose bushes could be considered weeds if they’re growing where you don’t want them.
Siberian Elm is sometimes promoted as a darn-near-instant “privacy screen.” It grows very quickly and it hard to kill. In the upper Midwest, it can grow into a 70-foot tree.
I had one growing next to my house. When I brought a sample of my (then) mystery bush to a local plant expert, he looked at it and said “That’s a Siberian Elm. It’s what we call a ‘weed Elm’,” and described the plant’s hardiness and potential for growth (and foundation damage).
So, there’s a weed that can reach the size of a tree.
fence hedge can turn into trees. I got one along my fence. It shoots out new plants several feet away. I cut one tree about 10 inches in diameter. Another is on the neighbors side.
Birds carry fence hedge seeds in their droppings. It will ruin a fence and take over quick.
I cut it back every darn year.
A weed is any plant that is growing where a human does not want it to grow. It’s not a biological classification.
If a Willow Tree grows in your yard, it’s a tree, unless you have a septic tank, in which case it is a weed. If a Poplar tree grows in your yard, it’s a tree, unless it gets shaded on one side, grows with a tilt and ends up hanging over your house after seventy years or so, after which, it is a weed. (Gonna cost you a fortune to remove, too, you betcha.)
Tris
In keeping with this, some people in CA and other places would suggest that the eucalyptus, in particular the Australian blue gum, is “the world’s largest weed”. The things have been a subject for debate among CA conservationists for the last century, with both virulent detractors, and people pointing out that they are so well-established by now that trying to eradicate them would cause far more harm than good. One opinion:
http://www.wrm.org.uy/bulletin/54/USA.html
Heh.
Are any of you even reading the responses in this thread?
Well, in the pampas we have the Ombú
Rumors that these vast featureless expanses of grass, cows and soy beans only have THE (only one) ombú are slightly exaggerated, I’ve seen at least 2, I think.