林の中に生える vs 林に生える

Japanese Language Questions
1

The vocab page for 生える lists 林の中に生える as “to grow in a forest”. I’m now wondering whether 林に生える expresses the same thing or whether it’s subtly different?

I understand 林の中に生える to express “to grow inside a forest”. Would 林に生える would be more of a general “to grow (somewhere) in a forest”? Or would you not say it that way at all?

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＿の中に is a set phrase to mean inside something and 生える is an intransitive verb. So if you wanted to say the whole forest is growing, it would be 林が生える

And if you wanted to say something was growing inside a forest without using the set phrase, like 林に生える, I don’t think it would be wrong, I just think it might sound a bit weird or informal.

Also, note that 林 can also mean a grove or even a copse. So it’s not always referring to an entire forest.

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Thanks!

Didn’t know that の中に was a set phrase, that makes it clearer now.