2025-04-17

[public] 84.1K views, 4.20K likes, dislikes audio only

TED-Ed

Dig into the system that helps scientists distinguish trees from other varieties of plants, and what characteristics make a tree.

--

Plants assume a variety of forms, and trees are just one of them. What makes or breaks a tree can come down to some pretty specific characteristics, based on how the plant develops as a result of how it evolved. Trees don’t all comprise one closely related group, like insects or mammals. So, how exactly do trees get classified as trees? Max G. Levy explains what distinguishes these woody plants.

Lesson by Max G. Levy, directed by Evandro D'Hipolito.

Support Our Non-Profit Mission

----------------------------------------------

Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreon

Check out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop

----------------------------------------------

Connect With Us

----------------------------------------------

Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletter

Follow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebook

Find us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitter

Peep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram

----------------------------------------------

Keep Learning

----------------------------------------------

View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/no-one-really-knows-what-a-tree-is-max-g-levy

Dig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/no-one-really-knows-what-a-tree-is-max-g-levy/digdeeper

Animator's website: https://evandrodhipolito.myportfolio.com

----------------------------------------------

Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Clarence E. Harper Jr., Vignan Velivela, Ana Maria, Exal Enrique Cisneros Tuch, Tejas Dc, Khalifa Alhulail, Martin Stephen, Jose Henrique Leopoldo e Silva, Mandeep Singh, Abhijit Kiran Valluri, Morgan Williams, Devin Harris, Pavel Zalevskiy, Karen Goepen-Wee, Filip Dabrowski, Barbara Smalley, Megan Douglas, Tim Leistikow, Ka-Hei Law, Hiroshi Uchiyama, Mark Morris, Misaki Sato, EdoKun, SookKwan Loong, Bev Millar, Lex Azevedo, Michael Aquilina, Jason A Saslow, Yansong Li, Cristóbal Moenne, Dawn Jordan, Prasanth Mathialagan, Samuel Doerle, David Rosario, Dominik Kugelmann - they-them, Siamak Hajizadeh, Ryohky Araya, Mayank Kaul, Christophe Dessalles, Heather Slater, Sandra Tersluisen, Zhexi Shan, Bárbara Nazaré, Andrea Feliz, Victor E Karhel, Sydney Evans, Latora, Noel Situ, emily lam, and Sid.