Podweed

Over millions of years, the borewurm's burrowing behavior has broken down the previously rocky substrate in Lamarck water table. This has made the substrate less habitable to microbial mats. This proved to be a problem to the table cushion, as one of their main food sources are the aforementioned microbial mats. To make matters worse, this softer soil is more difficult for the table cushion to adhere to, and its short rhizoids were not long enough to keep it anchored. While most table cushions retreated to the cave's walls and ceiling, where the substrate was still firm enough for them to adhere to, some of them opted to adapt to the soft, deep soil of the cave floor and became the podweed.

The podweed has two major differences from its ancestor. The first of which is its longer rhizoids, which constantly grow outwards, reaching deep into the soil. These roots will devour any biomass they may encounter in the soil like the hyphae of fungi. This may range from microbes to bits of detritus that were buried in the sediment. Its second adaptation is a gas-filled chamber. The podweed is now hollow as to decrease its volume to surface area ratio, making its filter-feeding more efficient. It relies on gas pressure to hold its shape. The gasses the podweed fills its chamber with are derived from metabolic byproducts. When the gas chamber reaches a critical pressure, it will stop effusing gas into the chamber and start effusing it out of the organism as to prevent it from bursting.

Podweeds hold a very similar ecological position to their ancestors. Their hollow nature makes them terribly vulnerable to being fed upon by grazing villigrasses and magnekites, which often pop them while feeding. Fortunately for the podweed, they have inherited its ancestor's fast growth and reproduction, allowing them to survive the constant onslaught of herbivory. They often grow in clusters in recently grazed spaces and form the basis of early successional habitats on the cavern floor within Lamarck Water Table.