and this sentence segment jumped out at me--originally the mast of any forest tree--
i am reading 1491--about life in the americas before the european's arrived, and came across the term mast (defined in 1491 as "beechnuts, acorns and other fruit and edible nuts at part of the 'litter' on a forest floor)"--and this meaning of mast one totally new to me!

my other obsession