lancewood

Lancewood is the worst of all the New Zealand trees.
When you look at it, you wouldn't realise it is actually a tree, but it apparently is. They have done tests on it, apparently, to find that it evolved in some sort of competition with moa to not be eaten by moa. I imagine these tests to involve some sort of mock up of a moa head, and not be particularly scientific. Moa don't exist anymore, but lancewood has "stood the test" of time. When you look at lancewood, compared with moa, it hurts thinking about the difference that having moa still around could have made. It hurts thinking about some scientist with a moa puppet head mock eating lancewood leaves. When I was younger I saw scientists as solely men with beards in olive green shirts, which is a fashion choice that isn't really used so much anymore. This is the image I have in my head when I imagine their experiments on lancewood.