# What is the 'Y' part of a tree called? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 7, 2010, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-y-part-of-a-tree-called/556346 "2010-10-07T12:36:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dumbguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dumbguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dumbguy)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-y-part-of-a-tree-called/556346/1 "2010-10-07T12:36:23Z")
A lot of trees seem to have a long thick trunk that grows up to a certain point and then splays out to any number of branches above. Is there a term that refers to this section. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-y-part-of-a-tree-called/556346/2 "2010-10-07T12:42:10Z")
Well, one term is the [Crotch.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crotch)😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-y-part-of-a-tree-called/556346/3 "2010-10-07T12:58:24Z")
Fork ---
**Author:** ![UncaStuart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncastuart/32/404_2.png) [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-y-part-of-a-tree-called/556346/4 "2010-10-07T13:12:21Z")
My orchardist grandfathers used crotch (and, hence, so do I). Branches could “fork” beyond that, but the primary, major area of branching was the crotch. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-y-part-of-a-tree-called/556346/5 "2010-10-07T14:12:30Z")
I call it the crotch. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-y-part-of-a-tree-called/556346/6 "2010-10-07T14:15:49Z")
It’s a crotch. I think. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-y-part-of-a-tree-called/556346/7 "2010-10-07T14:30:02Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Fork > **[What is a fork used for? - Answers](https://www.answers.com/cooking-techniques/What_is_a_fork_used_for)** > > Hi there a fork works by puncturing the food in several > different places so it wont slip off when you raise it to your > mouth.The fork an also be used to heap food on and then eat it. > The four spikes on a fork get closer togather as it ascends so > the... ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-y-part-of-a-tree-called/556346/8 "2010-10-07T14:35:13Z")
[Crotch](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crotch). ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-y-part-of-a-tree-called/556346/9 "2010-10-07T14:41:21Z")
I think we’re approaching consensus. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-y-part-of-a-tree-called/556346/10 "2010-10-07T14:47:59Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > I think we’re approaching consensus. Yep, thread’s over. Stick a fork in that crotch. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-y-part-of-a-tree-called/556346/11 "2010-10-07T14:49:17Z")
OUCH! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-y-part-of-a-tree-called/556346/12 "2010-10-07T14:50:36Z")
[3a](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fork) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-y-part-of-a-tree-called/556346/13 "2010-10-07T14:54:21Z")
Crotchfork…band name! ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-y-part-of-a-tree-called/556346/14 "2010-10-07T14:56:16Z")
It’s probably worth noting that all (or almost all) the trees in question are dicotyledenous angiosperms. A wide number of dicot families have evolved tree forms; nearly every “tree” is either a dicot or a conifer, the order that constitutes almost all of the living gymnosperms. (Only palms, which are monocots, and the ginkgo, the only extant nmember of another gymnosperm order, are exceptions to this rule AFAIK.) The technical term for a tree’s general shape is its _habit_ – and most people recognize tree habits without conscious thought. E.g., handed sillhouettes of an elm, a willow, and a spruce, most people could identify which is which by the general shape without seeing leaves, bark, etc. Typically, trees are comprised of a root system, a trunk, and a crown. The trunk’s function is to hold the crown up where it can compete for sunlight and to connect it to the roots, the latter being an important element in a tree’s physiology, as it transpires. (Pun intended.) Nearly all the conifers and several families in the dicots, including the birches and poplar/aspen group, have habits in which the trunk extends virtually to the top of the treee, with large branches mostly coming off it. While the branches themselves may bifurcate, trifurcate, etc., the trunk does not. In contrast to this, many trees, the apples and many maples being good examples, tend to have the trunk bifurcate or produce multiple major branches at the base of the crown. By analogy to a person standing on its head, the point where the trunk bifurcates into limbs is the crotch. Forks are wherever limbs bifurcate; the crotch is a fork, but not all forks are crotches. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-y-part-of-a-tree-called/556346/15 "2010-10-07T15:08:42Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Forks are wherever limbs bifurcate; the crotch is a fork, but not all forks are crotches. You win! Go with the consensus concept. At least **Dumbguy** won’t just freak out when the term “fork” is unwisely used for the concept. Crotch Nazis! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-y-part-of-a-tree-called/556346/16 "2010-10-07T15:14:32Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > I think we’re approaching consensus. It’s incorrect, however. A “crotch” is any point where a branch joins a trunk, or two major branches join. The point above the ground at which many branches splay out is (unsurprisingly) called the branching point. ---
**Author:** ![Dumbguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dumbguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dumbguy)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-y-part-of-a-tree-called/556346/17 "2010-10-07T15:41:02Z")
Crotch was the word I was thinking of. For some reason I had ‘notch’ stuck in my head. Nice post, Polycarp. In my head I see you smoking a pipe as you type.