Candycane Bonegrass

The candycane bonegrass split from its ancestor the bonegrass. It lives much like its ancestor in the the intertidal zone, however it now lives in the temperate regions of Darwin. It must use the seawater of high tide to absorb calcium through calcification. This gives it a hard exoskeleton trunk. Rather than just a bony stalk, it has red photosynthetic tissue between each segment. This red and white pattern gives them the appearance of a candy cane. At the top is a red red photosynthetic shell produces spores during high tides in the spring. The spores combine with each other via sexual reproduction in large spawning clouds that make the water appear red for most of the season.