Unitary and modular organisms, the body as a shape

On the subject of outlines, and then unitary and modular organisms, Ryan van Huyssteen mentioned a small part of Bram and Piet van Wyk's How to identify trees in South Africa, 2007 (Cape Town, Struik).

"...plants differ fundamentally from most animals in that the form or outline of the whole organism is flexible, not fixed. Growth in plants is not due to an increase in size of a predeterminate body form, but involves the repeated addition of component parts...unlike animals, plants continue to grow for as long as they live...indeterminate growth is possible because they retain some unspecialized embryonic cells in the form of meristems that never mature...If a plant accidentally loses a part of its body, it can easily replace the damaged part by adding new modules. In fact, a plant can lose a substantial part of its body without dying. A tree can be chopped down to ground level and still be able to survive. If such drastic damage was inflicted on a unitary animal it would certainly die!" p. 14-15

Read the full excerpt here.