Divaricating plants

In New Zealand the theory is that Moa a bird some nearly the size of giraffes, tore branches off with their beaks like geese and hens etc now.  The plants response was to make the branches kink this way and that, so only a short bit would be torn off. ( No teeth of course) 

Plants like the lance wood grow 2 to 3 meters high before they form normal leaves etc.

I have upped the contrast to emphasis this.