The word ‘Including’ does not refer to identical things

Inter alia, the Media Observer, Kenya’s media watchdog publication had this to say of a passage culled from a local newspaper: “Accompanied by several county askaris, Waititu oversaw the felling of indigenous trees including cypress and cedar, all over 20 years old (end of newspaper quote).  Cypress and cedar are not indigenous trees (Laconic critique by the Media Observer)”.

There is nothing in the quoted text to befuddle, or suggest that cedar and cypress are indigenous trees. The cause of the misconception is the preposition ‘including’, yet only its omission would have given credence to the critique - Accompanied by several county askaris, Waititu oversaw the felling of indigenous trees cypress and cedar, all over 20 years old. The dictionary definition of ‘including’ (derived from the verb ‘include’) is ‘containing as part of the whole being considered’.