Saltail

The saltail split from its ancestor to inhabit the barren Huggs beach. There it had to adapt to a new salty humid environment. Some berries were washed to the nearby Huggs island there they grow as well. It is taller and fleshier than its ancestor enabling it to spread its pollen with the wind with more ease and to store the needed fresh water. It releases the salt it gathers from the beach water through its leaves making them covered by a white salty coating. This coating also helps it lose less water through evaporation.

It has two main reproduction organs, the “Repro-Head” and “Repro-Tail”. The repro-head is a fleshy red bulb at the top of the stalk. To this sticky bulb the airborne pollen of other saltails sticks and gets absorbed to fertilize the plant. Later berries grow from there to spread around its seeds. In Huggs island these berries are fleshier and the seeds are more resistant being spread by fauna while in Huggs coast they are smaller and spread by the wind rolling them around the beach. The repro-tail is an organ that grows above the repro-head. It is covered with tiny hatches and filled with pollen. When the wind blows it releases the pollen through the hatches.