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Description
The eophytes or desert barnacles are found exclusively in deserts, being very successful there. Albeit coming in different shapes and sizes, they are all roughly the same: a very thick, porous symbiotic shell which serves as insulation against the heat and is often covered with white excrements to reflect light better, a thick, long body that goes deep into the earth and has a large water reservoir and a fairly small, retractable leaf structure which is surprisingly colored blueish green instead of the usual red or brown found in other vermiphytes. This color has to do with their habit to expose their leafs only at dusks and dawns, when the UV radiation is bearable, so they specialized in absorbing light of lower wavelengths. Eophytes have a slow meabolism, grow very slowly and live long. Various burrowing desert animals depend on their water reserves; they have often sucking mouth parts to drink it without harming the plant too much.

Description
The eophytes or desert barnacles are found exclusively in deserts, being very successful there. Albeit coming in different shapes and sizes, they are all roughly the same: a very thick, porous symbiotic shell which serves as insulation against the heat and is often covered with white excrements to reflect light better, a thick, long body that goes deep into the earth and has a large water reservoir and a fairly small, retractable leaf structure which is surprisingly colored blueish green instead of the usual red or brown found in other vermiphytes. This color has to do with their habit to expose their leafs only at dusks and dawns, when the UV radiation is bearable, so they specialized in absorbing light of lower wavelengths. Eophytes have a slow meabolism, grow very slowly and live long. Various burrowing desert animals depend on their water reserves; they have often sucking mouth parts to drink it without harming the plant too much.