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Malicious-Monkey β Reproductive Strategy of the Brittle Tree
#alien #exobiology #plant #ilion #xenobiology #speculativeevolution
Published: 2014-11-29 01:14:03 +0000 UTC; Views: 1319; Favourites: 32; Downloads: 0
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Description
The brittle tree grows on the coastal shrublands of East Pandaros on Ilion. The tree grows rapidly to a height of 30 meters before splintering, rapidly again, under the strong easterly winds. Other trees in the area have no trouble staying upright, so what gives?For the brittle tree, falling is just another phase in its life cycle. The tree produces flying seeds while growing, but unlike other pterosperm trees, no pollen pads or other receptacles can be found on the base of the trunk. These erupt only from the stump of a felled tree. Seeds travel long distances to these outgrowths to be fertilized before taking off again in search of a place to take root. To a biologist unfamiliar with the workings of Ilion's life, this might look like an interaction between multiple species: a dying tree, a fungus, and an insectoid pollinator, perhaps.
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Comments: 5
Ms Holland, I hope I will not offend you in asking this, but could I please use this novel and creative ideaβthat is, of plants needing to die before spreading their genesβin works of my own? It solves so many questions while at the same time acting as a unique and rarely seen glimpse into fictional plants, like so much of your work. I would try to make it an homage rather than a complete ripoff, I assure you.
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Yeah, of course.
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Thank you!
...wow. That statement turned out to be far longer than I thought.
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I imagine they would have a long shelf life - almost no matter how fast they grow, there would eventually be intervals (days or weeks) wherein there are no brittle trees about to fall.
(do they develop the pollen pads if they're knocked over, by a rogue starrus or a human ship?)
a novel organism.
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Yeah, they don't last long by tree standards, but they still stand for a good deal of time before getting brittle and falling (by wind, storm, or animal). Otherwise you'd be left with a field full of stumps. The seeds last pretty long but not that long. If there are no pollen pads available, the seeds are SOL. Reproduction will have to wait until someone falls. The first to fall gets a huge fitness boost. But if everyone's doing it, then the fitness boost is diluted, see? The ratio of fallen to standing trees is self-regulating.
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