Terrestrial Cloudbubble

This descendant of the cloudbubble has almost completely lost its relationship with the cloudbubble cryoutine as a means to conserve energy and thus, it can no longer fly. Instead, it has evolved as a pioneering carpeting flora to cover the forest floor and trunks of larger flora. Due to the scarcity of aeroplankton and minerals in the sky, this rapidly reproducing flora began housing fewer and fewer Cloudbubble Cryoutines in order to float in lower, more nutritious skies. Eventually a descendant came about that had so little Cloudbubble Cryoutine that it settled on Lamarck Peak. Just as fecund as its ancestor, the terrestrial cloudbubble spread rapidly from the peak and colonized the neighboring alpine and highboreal habitats. Eventually it would establish a presence in most of the harsh environments of Lamarck such as the Rocky, Highvelt, and Tundra.

The tendrils once used for capturing aeroplankton now serve to anchor the plant and to absorb nutrients. Tendrils which grew on the underside of the organism lost their pigment and act similar to roots, while the tendrils on the top side act similar to leaves. It is able to create root networks in order to share nutrients with its neighbors and to signal for reproduction. Should the root network of the Terrestrial Cloudbubble detect the presence of a competing flora by the complete lack of Hydrogen producing Cloudbubble Cryoutine, the network will actively try to choke out the competitor by increasing root production around the threat in an attempt to cut off its nutrients. Furthermore, it is able to use the little Cloudbubble Cryoutines it has to flood the soil with asphyxiating Hydrogen gas which stunts and redirects rival root systems. This aggressive strategy in addition to the Terrestrial Cloudbubble's own support network allows it to quickly establish a presence in its environment by literally choking out small flora without bringing harm to itself due to the colony's ability to share nutrients from areas that are not flooded by Hydrogen such as flora trunks or rocks. On the other hand if a conspecific is detected, the colony will immediately begin incorporating it into the colony by sharing resources with it.

It reproduces both by asexual binary fission and sexual coordinated broadcast spawning. When it is time to reproduce, a chemical signal is sent throughout the root network which causes all the individuals within that area to produce and be ready to fertilize spores. Then when the time is right, all the mature individuals in the area will release their spores to be carried by the wind or water. Like their ancestor, the spores are captured, fertilized and released again into the world.

Due to its flatter shape, the Terrestrial Cloudbubble is able to resist damage caused by fauna stepping on it. This more spread out shape and high reproduction rates helps it to carpet the forest floor and barren ground very quickly, creating an abundant food source for herbivores as well as creating soil for future flora. As a result, the terrestrial Cloudbubble is a pioneer species.

Should a fire burn down a section of forest, these are one of the first organisms to grow back; they're naturally attracted to light, so they are often seen running high up tall flora, or accumulating densely in clearings.