# Another edge case for the wild/captive debate **URL:** \ **Category:** General\ **Created:** [May 7, 2025, 6:15pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/another-edge-case-for-the-wild-captive-debate/64875 "2025-05-07T18:15:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dominid](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/dominid/32/14823_2.png) [@dominid](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/dominid)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 6:15pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/another-edge-case-for-the-wild-captive-debate/64875/1 "2025-05-07T18:15:55Z")
I know, I know, I know. But I was wondering what people thought about this and I haven’t seen this case covered on the forum yet, so here it goes. Recently I was scrolling through my home state of New York’s needs ID observations and I saw one of a Robinia pseudoacacia tree that had recently fallen over. It looks like in the observation that the trunk had sprouted new branches and roots after falling over. Now, this made me wonder: if this tree (or any plant really) was planted by people, would it still be considered cultivated after falling over and rerooting itself? What are your thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![bouteloua](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/bouteloua/32/1180_2.png) [@bouteloua](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/bouteloua)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 6:44pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/another-edge-case-for-the-wild-captive-debate/64875/2 "2025-05-07T18:44:36Z")
> [@dominid](#): > > would it still be considered cultivated after falling over and rerooting itself? yes, it’s still considered “not wild” on iNaturalist ---
**Author:** ![vreinkymov](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/vreinkymov/32/58876_2.png) [@vreinkymov](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/vreinkymov)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 7:02pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/another-edge-case-for-the-wild-captive-debate/64875/3 "2025-05-07T19:02:04Z")
“If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is around to observe it, is it wild or captive/cultivated?” - iNat Forum, Probably I’d say that the “child” tree is captive/cultivated since it’s literally a part of the “parent” captive/cultivated tree making it hard to argue that it’s a [waif](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waif#Botany) which can be considered wild. ---
**Author:** ![tcriley](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/tcriley/32/25468_2.png) [@tcriley](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/tcriley)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2025, 7:06pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/another-edge-case-for-the-wild-captive-debate/64875/4 "2025-05-07T19:06:48Z")
I agree with others, since it’s growing from the original tree itself and not separately a few feet away or something, it should be considered captive/cultivated like the original tree would have been. ---
**Author:** ![yayemaster](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/yayemaster/32/12153_2.png) [@yayemaster](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/yayemaster)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 3:28pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/another-edge-case-for-the-wild-captive-debate/64875/5 "2025-05-09T15:28:11Z")
Just as if a zoo animal is born in captivity, or a fish is born in a fishtank, a plant that grows from the roots of a fallen cultivated plant is cultivated. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/7/7831452cf7f0d653ff1ffd34176334b7ef1b6a17.png) [@system](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2025, 3:29pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/another-edge-case-for-the-wild-captive-debate/64875/6 "2025-07-08T15:29:00Z")
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