Kernel Cornucopia

The Kernel Cornucopia split from its ancestor the Branching Bonespire, growing up to 30 meters tall, it has moved further inland on Fermi to take advantage of the available soils and low competition. It can be found in Fermi Temperate Woodland, Fermi Bush, and Fermi Temperate Volcanic, as well as sparse clusters by waterways in Fermi Plains. Stunted populations can be found in Fermi Subpolar Volcanic, and Fermi Prairie.

The central trunk grows upward at a much faster rate than it expands in diameter, leading to a somewhat uniform appearance to its thickness. Branches coming off this trunk are dwarfed by it. the pseudoflowers, or leaves, that alone cap the ends of each branch comprise of four photosynthetic organs with a length of up to 120 cm. New growth along these branches, younger portions, and the pseudoflowers themselves are all ringed with irritating glochidia or tiny spines. The younger upper portion of the central trunk also dawns these structures. They exist on the Kernel Cornucopia as a deterrent during its youth to prevent predation, their continual production in age remains as more of an artifact than anything else. Older parts of the flora simply shed this in favor of hardened tissue.

Existing in temperate and subpolar biomes leads to experiencing cold dark winters with long periods of very dry air. In response to this the broad large leaves are now shed in a controlled manner to remove unneeded and sensitive tissue during that period of the year. The organism also goes into a slowed state of growth, the majority of development being minor root system expansion and the regrowth of large protected pseudoflower buds.

The growth of branches occurs just beneath the leaves, essentially pushing the pseudoflower or bud as a terminal structure rather than growth reaching beyond it during expansion. Formation of new branches, either off the central trunk or off existing branches, occurs as a bare twig for the first year. The following Spring brings with it the development of a bud which acts as its terminal structure and opens up to photosynthetic organs.

Reproduction no longer relies on any wingworms, rather the useless spores its ancestor had released became large airborne clouds of "pollen" or male sexual spores. A single mass of reproductive structures exists at the top of the central trunk, appearing after reaching 10 meters in height, 2 meters in the stunted populations. Prior to its appearance the top of an adolescent with hold a pseudoflower or a bud. This mass consists fronds of incredible size, on fully mature individuals they can reach a length of 4 meters. These are grown with the sole purpose of producing the wind strewn male spores, throwing great clouds of orange into the sky during mid and late spring.

Around the base of these massive antheridia are stouter, sticky, female fronds, their spores are a lighter yellow and remain held fast to their points of origin. As the bright orange clouds of male spores waft through the canopies they bump into their female counterparts and fuse to form zygotes. Fed by the mother flora these zygotes, as they form, grow into clumps of cells 3-5 millimeters in diameter. A two cell thick protective coat is formed from the outer cells, while the inner cells arrange to form a tube shaped oil rich embryo, entirely skipping the protonema or sporeling stage that occurs in most other Black Flora. Thus creating the structure referred to as "seeds" in their ancestors which can remain dormant for many years.

The analogous organs of the reproductive system that had become leaves in the pseudoflowers on the branches have diverged into a more specialized and complex form. The "leaves" form a thin but strong support keel along a ventral ridge while the "petals" of its ancestor have become huge and fused to both the keel and themselves resulting in a hollow horn that can reach 6 meters in length. For their volume these structures on their own are relatively light yet structurally strong and may be held at the top of the flora for several years.

By mid to late summer the majority of the female spores have been fertilized and formed into seeds. The archegonia, or female fronds, will grow to engulf clusters of seeds into balls of flesh 4 centimeters across that harden into a firm nut. These nuts fall into the horns adjacent to them as the fronds disintegrate. Depending on the maturity of the individual, and strength of their horns, this cycle of filling can happen several times until the horns collapse or fall from the Kernel Cornucopia in a violent crash.

These crashes happen most often in late fall or winter during windy days or storms. The falls may take out a branch or two, but more often the horn simply crumples across them. Along the dorsal side of the horn, formed from the fusion of what were once petals, a ridge of "longitudunal dehiscence" exists to aid in the destruction of the large container. As it ruptures against the ground the hundreds of thousands of nuts inside are thrown across the ground. A good portion of these will decompose where they land, but if any are found by hungry fauna during what is otherwise a period of scarcity it is nearly guaranteed their seeds inside will be taken elsewhere to grow.

The first two years of growth is spent as a dark, thin, fast growing tube. By the Spring of the third year a bud will have appeared and from it will spring its first pseudoflower to increase its growth rate, this cyclical structure of pseudoflower and bud will remain until replaced by the central reproductive structure. Branches will begin to appear as bare twigs coming off the central trunk by year five.