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Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't

crimepaysbutbotanydoesnt.com

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Re: Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't

#201

Post by fastaguy88 »

cmpb wrote: post #200
fastaguy88 wrote: post #198

Two nits to pick, one major, one minor: Major: "Common names simply don’t work on a large scale. One common name (ie “cedar”) can refer to 8 different totally unrelated plants, where as Cedrus refers specifically to the genus which contains the species C. libani, C. deodara, and C. atlantica." Actually, those 8 different plants are hardly "totally unrelated". They are quite closely related in the evolutionary scheme…

To nit 1: "totally unrelated" could reasonably mean "not in the same genus", but even relaxing that to "not in the same family" holds true for the word "cedars". The author's point about "common names" seems pretty salient To nit 2: I fail to see what you're actually nitpicking here... How evolutionary related things are and how they evolved _are_ pretty well illustrated by taxonomic ranking. Some organisms (in a sta…

I suppose "totally unrelated" might mean not in the same genus to some set of taxonomists, but for the larger audience to which this essay was directed, unrelated might mean "is not related in any way" (as in, does not share a common ancestor).

Yes, they are "totally unrelated" in the sense that I am likely totally unrelated to you, but this not a very evolutionary sense of the word "related".

Re: Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't

#202

Post by quickthrowman »

graemep wrote: post #130
badpun wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I thought that was really interesting (and obviously wouldn't work in other countries). I don't know about other countries, but in Poland you're just not required to cut down your lawn at all, unless it's a fire hazard (you have a lot of dead and dried up plants).

I think legal requirements are a US thing. I had only heard of it in HOA run places though. Here in the UK there are no usually legal requirements, but it might be a social problem as your neighbours will not like it.

There are municipalities in the US with lawn ordinances, mine has one.

> Tall Grass and Weeds

> Weeds or grass more than eight inches high or that have gone to seed must be cut or mowed. Noxious weeds, as defined by the state Department of Agriculture, must be controlled or destroyed completely.

Source: https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/safety-inspections/rent-b...

A lawn is not required, but if you have one, the grass must be cut if it seeds or is more than 8” long.

Re: Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't

#203

Post by ggm »

trentor wrote: post #112
ggm wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there is a common belief if you make a lot of information available, acquiring skills is "easy". It's certainly easier than without, but the thing is, drawing the owl just takes a fucking long time to learn. There are no shortage of online tutes to learn how to draw, the genre is ancient. Plants mimic each other for advantage facing herbivores. Isn't that fantastic!. Learning Latin is the least burden here, t…

There is just not shortcut to acquire a skill worth having. I don't understand your argument.

My argument is to tone. The articles tone is "come on in the waters fine" and my point is that easy is deceptive. I don't understand your continuing lack of understanding but perhaps we read the article with different preconceptions.

Re: Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't

#204

Post by quickthrowman »

nsvd2 wrote: post #157
voakbasda wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not just HOAs. Talk grass allows insects and vermin to move more freely. In cities, this contributes to their spread, so some places have city-wide ordinances that require lawn maintenance.

How terrifying that a bit of nature may be near a person! Better cover it with roundup so they don't have to suffer the horror of seeing a spider

Most city code about turfgrass lawns mandates cutting them if you have one. If you don’t want to maintain a lawn by keeping it trimmed, rip it out. It’s a non-native monoculture, allowing it to grow un-maintained is uh, stupid. Rip the sod out and plant clover and daisies, problem solved.

My city also requires “noxious weeds” to be removed, which is a state requirement that the city inherited/adopted: https://www.mda.state.mn.us/minnesota-noxious-weed-list It’s comprised of invasive species like Japanese knotweed and buckthorn and others I am unfamiliar with. Our State Parks and also private landowners use goats to get rid of buckthorn similar to other places.

That being said, city code in my city would allow you to replace a grass law with clover or native plants/grasses or landscaping or wooded areas, etc. The code simply says “If you have a grass lawn you must cut it if the grass generates seeds or is 8” long.”

Re: Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't

#205

Post by quickthrowman »

graemep wrote: post #199
tobinfricke wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently this text is part of the "International Property Management Code", which is incorporated into the municipal code of many cities? https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/IPMC2024P1/chapter-3-gener...

So not just HOAs but very much US?

Generally, property in places where the landscape is well-maintained is worth substantially more than property where half the lawns are uncut and the fence lines are overgrown with weeds.

The US is a land of individualists who also have most of their wealth tied up in their homes so property ordinances are popular, despite the “I can do whatever I want” attitude of American culture.

Re: Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't

#207

Post by magicalist »

fastaguy88 wrote: post #201
cmpb wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To nit 1: "totally unrelated" could reasonably mean "not in the same genus", but even relaxing that to "not in the same family" holds true for the word "cedars". The author's point about "common names" seems pretty salient To nit 2: I fail to see what you're actually nitpicking here... How evolutionary related things are and how they evolved _are_ pretty well illustrated by taxonomic ranking. Some organisms (in a sta…

I suppose "totally unrelated" might mean not in the same genus to some set of taxonomists, but for the larger audience to which this essay was directed, unrelated might mean "is not related in any way" (as in, does not share a common ancestor). Yes, they are "totally unrelated" in the sense that I am likely totally unrelated to you, but this not a very evolutionary sense of the word "related".

> Yes, they are "totally unrelated" in the sense that I am likely totally unrelated to you

Why would you assume that the "larger audience" would assume that "unrelated" means that these species of trees came from independent origins of life on earth instead of this totally normal and common sense of the phrase that you use here?

Re: Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't

#208

Post by aaron695 »

jojocool0501 wrote: post #80

My favorite Youtube channel. Please watch the latest https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDVcfSYcxc0 . It's an interview with an old botanist, who shares his wisdom and philosophy, remains engaged after decades of witnessing first hand America's nature getting destroyed. 2 main points: - destroyed old-growth forests, grassland, remnant prairies takes millennia to be back to what they were, not decades. Insects and other…

[dead]

Re: Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't

#209

Post by scyzoryk_xyz »

wiether wrote: post #75
scyzoryk_xyz wrote: post #4

Watch this guy's YT channel - have been for years now. I think what originally caught my attention on his channel was a video specifically about the flora around run-down Oakland urban-industrial areas.

I discovered it recently, and I find it quite funny I'm not really into botany itself, but I enjoy their rants about how people manage "green" spaces

I love those too - the combination of crude rant persona with extremely sophisticated knowledge is disarming.

Re: Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't

#210

Post by scyzoryk_xyz »

botanrice wrote: post #167
chao- wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think I also first found him from his "guerrilla gardening" work in Oakland. I think it was in a median, planting native species on a barren strip of dirt. Something of that nature. His backstory is really one-of-a-kind. If I recall correctly, he got really into botany because he worked for Union Pacific railroad, and while stopping in a city, would go to the library and checkout different botany books.

I believe I discovered him through that same video! I now tell everyone I know about guerilla gardening lol, haven't got the know-how to do it myself quite yet though. Soon enough.

Hey I've been telling myself I know about a lot of plant stuff just based off his videos. I don't really either, but maybe soon.

These videos just have this quality of bringing you into a POV where you're reminded that there is a lot going on in every detail of the reality surrounding you. Maybe I didn't learn much botany from these videos, but I definitely learned to just pay attention more.

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