# What if all trees were blue .. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 5, 2010, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-trees-were-blue/556107 "2010-10-05T12:09:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-trees-were-blue/556107/1 "2010-10-05T12:09:43Z")
…one fine morning ? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-trees-were-blue/556107/2 "2010-10-05T12:17:09Z")
For some reason, I thought “someone died and made Gauguin God?” Does anybody know whether Gauguin painted blue trees? I know he painted colorful stuff, but can’t recall specific instances of blue trees. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-trees-were-blue/556107/3 "2010-10-05T12:23:24Z")
there’s [this.](http://www.picturalissim.com/gauguin_blue_tree_trunks.htm) ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-trees-were-blue/556107/4 "2010-10-05T12:27:11Z")
I’d think [he](http://dreamdogsart.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c192953ef011278feaa6828a4-800wi) deserves a little suspicion too. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-trees-were-blue/556107/5 "2010-10-05T12:28:24Z")
Hmmm…are we talking sky blue or dark blue? Sky blue trees would be kind of boring, once the initial shock wore off. I mean, there’s already the sky and the lake that are that color, do we really need more of it? It’s prettiest in contrast to the green trees, really. But \*dark \*blue trees, that might be nice… You’d get kind of a thick woods at dusk effect even on trees sitting in the sunlight! ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-trees-were-blue/556107/6 "2010-10-05T14:16:02Z")
_Hmmm…are we talking sky blue or dark blue?_ You are free to decide . ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-trees-were-blue/556107/7 "2010-10-05T16:02:47Z")
How about a Blue Spruce? [http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?\_adv\_prop=image&fr=yfp-t-980&va=Blue+Spruce](http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=yfp-t-980&va=Blue+Spruce) What if they were all blue spruces? ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-trees-were-blue/556107/8 "2010-10-05T17:08:53Z")
I’d look up and check to see if the sky was green. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-trees-were-blue/556107/9 "2010-10-05T17:14:55Z")
Are the leaves blue, or the bark? ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-trees-were-blue/556107/10 "2010-10-05T17:17:53Z")
I’d wonder who farted and made all the trees hold their breath. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-trees-were-blue/556107/11 "2010-10-05T18:16:45Z")
I would have guessed that [Boise State](http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/19731050.jpg)won the national championship in college football. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-trees-were-blue/556107/12 "2010-10-06T00:55:54Z")
For languages with only [3 color terms](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_term#Basic_color_terms), blue and green are/were the same thing. So the trees are already blue. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Buttons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@Mr\_Buttons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Buttons)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-trees-were-blue/556107/13 "2010-10-06T19:17:23Z")
If you want to find out, it’s only one heavy dose of LSD away. 🙂 ETA: May have unpleasant side affects may include visions of melting buildings/faces. Effects wear off in 6-12 hours ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-trees-were-blue/556107/14 "2010-10-06T19:38:56Z")
Celtling would do her silly dance to cheer them up. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-trees-were-blue/556107/15 "2010-10-06T19:55:16Z")
> [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](#): > > For languages with only [3 color terms](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_term#Basic_color_terms), blue and green are/were the same thing. So the trees are already blue. Trees pretty much are blue. We think of them as green because that’s the color of the leaves up close. But look at them from far away they are often more a combination of yellow, blue, and black. When I paint trees, those are the colors I use, and I don’t mix them together on the pallette. The truthiness of that opinion largely depends aon various circumstances, of course.