As part of making my peace with this tree, I go to see Ben Jones, curator of Oxford University’s Harcourt arboretum. He tells me that conifers are among the most threatened species worldwide because of the usefulness of the wood and, of course, the climate crisis; the Patagonian cypress (Fitzroya cupressoides) is as endangered as the Asian elephant. We go out in soft rain with Ernest the dog, passing saplings propagated from the primordial Wollemi pine discovered in Australia.