I expect there's an explanation as to why we have names for groups of animals and birds. It's definitely history - the first known list was published in 1486 and was for hunting. it was the Book of Saint Albans and it contained a list of 165 collective names in the hunting section. That seems like a lot for the 1400s, but then I guess hunting took up a lot of time.
Is there such a thing as collective nouns for orchids? I looked up what the collective noun for orchids might be and found alliance and coterie.
On average, though, we don't seem to do the same for plants and trees as we'e done for birds and animals. It must be that hunting tradition.
For trees, there are kinds of groups - woodlands, woodlots, thickets, stands. But these apply to any kind of tree. Why isn't a pear orchard differentiated from a cherry orchard? Again, wouldn't you think it is because you don't hunt for pears and cherries.
This seems to be a topic for word lovers there are many groupings by many people - one person's long, long list is HERE. Dingles, coupes, holts, krummholz, withy. Look at this: a Quercetum - a collection of oak trees forming a special type of arboretum. There's one!
Who would have guess these collective names for plants? The author has made them up for fun:
A spike of cacti A rarity of orchids A clone of aspen A tassel of corn An agar of Arabidopsis
This is quite an activity. You can find many offerings of collective names by witty plants people. Here are a few more:
sledge or slip of acorns cling of adhering plant parts advance of aggressive native species bloom of algae joy of almonds androecium (all the stamens of a flower) antheridium in cryptogams sea of anemones
What about the person who has named collective nouns "an annoyance of collective nouns?" Readers' Digest has the 27 funniest ones for animals - grumble of pugs, a kindle off kittens, and so on HERE. That's their version of collective noun jokes.
This heart originated with Odile and was made of flower petals. I enhanced it in photoshop.
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