Lancewood

Pseudopanax crassifolius is a heteroblastic plant, meaning that it has different leaf forms and growth habits depending on its growth stage. These growth stages, which are largely related to the plant height, are: seedling, juvenile, transitional, and adult. A juvenile tree is single-stemmed with long and narrow deflexed leaves, typically below the height of 3–5 m (9.8–16.4 ft). As an adult, P. crassifolius can reach a height of 15 m. It appears as a round-headed tree due to being multi-branched, making it look more like a "typical tree" than its previous forms.

Leaves. Seedling leaves are smaller and thinner compared to the following growth stages, but they gradually become longer as the plant grows out from the leaf litter, starting from cotyledon. Leaves are initially green but become more mottled brown and leathery as the plant grows. Juvenile leaves, which are produced up to 4 m (13 ft) or before the tree branches, are especially long and narrow (1 m (3 ft 3 in) long by 1–1.5 cm (0.39–0.59 in) wide) – similar in shape to a lance. They are dark green with a sharply toothed margin and prominent yellow or orange midrib. Leaves are also rigid and straight, but angled downwards from the stem, 45–60º from horizontal. Intermediate leaves appear once the tree has branched, typically above the height of 4–5 m. …

Pseudopanax crassifolius is endemic to New Zealand. It is abundant and widespread in the North Island, South Island, and Stewart Island.

The juvenile form of P. crassifolius lasts between 15 and 20 years before it transitions into its adult form. The tree almost only flowers and fruits when it is an adult. Its bisexual flowers are in full bloom from January to April and are pollinated by insects. Fruits are produced in January to April, ripen through the winter, and persist until August. These fruits are eaten and then dispersed by birds. Passing through a bird's gut strips the seed of its fleshy mesocarp coat, which helps it germinate. Subsequently, these seeds were found to germinate after five weeks but this may be delayed if the fleshy mesocarp is still intact. Pseudopanax crassifolius is evergreen.

Māori would use the stems of juvenile trees to spear kererū, while Māori specifically from the South Island would use P. crassifolius leaves to make paint brushes for rock paintings. Due to its flexibility, the trunk of a young P. crassifolius could be twisted and used as a tokotoko (ceremonial walking stick).

The species epithet crassifolius means "thick leaved". The Māori language name horoeka likely derived from Proto-Polynesian *Solo[w]eka or *Qoromea, both hypothetical words used to refer to unknown species of tree. Possible cognates include Tahitian oroea, used to describe Cyclophyllum barbatum, Rennellese kogomea, a word for Hibiscus cooperi, and Hawaiian olomea, used to describe Perrottetia sandwicensis. All three lancewood species (P. crassifolius, P. ferox, and P. linearis) are known as horoeka by Māori. The English language name lancewood refers to the Māori cultural use of the juvenile plant as a lance for bird hunting. An alternative early name no longer in use is the "fishbone tree", a reference of the juvenile plant's leaves resembling the spine and ribs of a fish.