Topyiiro

The topyiiro is a large colonial organism formed by both asexually budded offspring and any floating topyiiro buds that happen to clump onto it. Its immune system is simple and not very "smart", and so will readily incorporate the buds of other, related individuals. It is, in a sense, an amalgamate partly made of rock, softwood, sponge and redmoss. The calcium oxalate crystals in its inner tissues and base are changed to whewellite, a modified form of calcium oxalate. The whewellite is supported by a matrix of galactoglucomannan, a hemicellulose found in large quantities in softwoods such as Norway spruce. This mineral core helps it resist being torn apart by storms, a useful ability for a large, sessile organism. A "skeleton" of glucomannan spreads from its core in a netlike configuration. Interspersed throughout the outer layers is a living layer that photosynthesizes, along with breathing and expelling waste through numerous pores. Topyiiros grow in a variety of shapes, but tend to have a wide base and thick branchlike or limb-like protrusions. Some colonies grow in such a way as to resemble crude topiaries, hence the name. While not obvious in this picture, when inspected closely topyiiro clumps still have ridges shaped vaguely like an omega symbol. The ridges lack pores. Several species of colonial redmosses may grow on these ridges. In the autumn, these redmoss species undergo major "blooms" and densely cover large parts of the topyiiro. While this severely impedes the topyiiro's photosynthesizing, it is compensated by the redmoss coat reducing air and sun damage during low tide. Sometimes large fauna, such as saurohounds, will scratch against a topyiiro to remove parasites. This occasionally causes the arms to break off. The arms may float off to sea, eventually sinking to the Jujubee Ocean (Twilight Floor) biome. There, bloisters feast on the dismembered arms.