I wasn't really surprised by the claim of the article but also hadnt thought about it explicitly much.

Bunchberries, for example, are really common where I am, and they're a type of dogwood (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornus_canadensis). It's really obvious they're a dogwood too, once you get past the fact they're not woody.

Also, "tree" can get really fuzzy really fast with different shrubs in between.