Pseudopanax crassifolius, horoeka, or lancewood, is a New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 native tree belonging to the family Araliaceae

Araliaceae

Araliaceae is a family of flowering plants, also known as the Aralia family or Ivy family. The family includes 254 species of trees, shrubs, lianas and perennial herbaceous plants into 2 subfamilies...

. It is found throughout New Zealand from sea level up to about 750 m. The juvenile form, which lasts for between 15 and 20 years, is very easily recognized. The leaves are stiff and leathery with a prominent central rib, about 1 cm wide and up to 1 m long with irregular teeth, all growing downwards from a central stem. The young trunk has characteristic vertical swollen ridges. As the tree gets older the stem begins to branch producing a bushy top, and the leaves become wider and shorter, losing their teeth. It is only when the tree is mature that it adopts a typical tree shape.

Closely related is Pseudopanax ferox

Pseudopanax ferox

Toothed lancewood or horoeka, , is a small tree endemic to New Zealand. It is similar to the more common Lancewood Pseudopanax crassifolius but with more prominently tooth-shaped leaves. The juvenile leaves are a very dark grey-brown to grey-green colour, narrow, stiff and up to 40 cm long...

, the toothed lancewood. It is similar to P. crassifolius except the leaves are more abundant and severely toothed, resembling a bandsaw blade.

One of the theories about this curious change of appearance is that the young plant had to protect itself against browsing by the moa

Moa

The moa were eleven species of flightless birds endemic to New Zealand. The two largest species, Dinornis robustus and Dinornis novaezelandiae, reached about in height with neck outstretched, and weighed about ....

, the giant flightless bird that roamed New Zealand's bush in prehistoric times. Once above moa height, it was out of danger and turns into a "regular" tree.

In fiction

The New Zealand lancewood features in a World War II novel titled Lancewood, by Alan Marshall. A paragraph from Chapter 3 reads:

"A bizarre jagged gem of the forest, the lancewood's distinctive habit splits the soft forest light to stab one in the eye with an odd, unearthly beauty. It's slicing leaves, each blade a blade, gives the plant the demeanor of a strangely elegant weapon."

External links

• Flora of New Zealand, URL:Pseudopanax crassifolius. Accessed 17 May 2007.
• New Zealand Plant Conservation Network, URL:Pseudopanax crassifolius. Accessed 2010-10-04.