While corporations usually get flack for contributing to deforestation, cell phone companies, on the other hand, are reforesting the built environment with fake, plastic trees. Californians and New Englanders be warned: These invasive species are popping up wherever there are palms and pines, the easiest arbors to copycat. Unfortunately they have yet to breed bonzai varieties.
Do these tree simulacra do anything to improve the aesthetics of a landscape? Or do they simply introduce more artifice into our daily lives?
Here's a selection of some of the best (or worst) cell phone tower trees. If you're into these photos, check out collections by photographers Emily Shur and Robert Voit, both of whom have managed to find a shocking amount of beauty in their shady subjects.
Thumbnail image (cc) by Flickr user Kevin Spencer
Tow truck towing a car in its bedCanva 
Sad woman looks at her phoneCanva 
A group of young people at a house partyCanva 
Fed-up woman gif
Police show up at a house party 
A trendy restaurant in the middle of the dayCanva
A reserved table at a restaurantCanva
Gif of Tim Robinson asking "What?' via 
An octopus floating in the oceanCanva
A woman relaxes with a book at homeCanva
An eviction notice is being attached to a doorCanva
Gif of Kristen Bell saying 'Ya basic!' via 
The chart illustrates that between ages 16 and 20, roughly half the population loses their virginity. By age 22, 90% of the population has had sex.
A group of young people hold their phonesCanva