When Dwarf Fortress made the switch to 3D, Toady’s heavy interest in geology and mineralogy really came to light. He added 50+ real-world stones, all appearing in their proper layers, just as they appear in the real world. These additions were largely for flavor. There’s essentially no difference between Quartzite, Dolomite, Limestone, etc. Gabbro, Slate, Basalt, Felsite, Shale… I could keep going.
Point is, this same attention to detail wasn’t given to other natural-world formations, such as trees. Enter the very-simple Dendrology mod. It adds 67 real-world trees to Dwarf Fortress. Nothing more, nothing less. Maybe not the most exciting mod in the world, but hey, it certainly doesn’t hurt anything.
Sorry for rezzing an old post, but there ARE important differences between those minerals you listed, both in and out of game.