Slarti Crystal Stalk

When the Slarti crystal stalk split from its ancestor, the Slarti crystal-shoot, it changed in an odd way; instead of storing and releasing its spores as its ancestors had, it began to store them in a few soft crystalline structures. While these crystal growths became softer, the spores inside became harder. The soft "fruits" were easy pickings for most herbivores, and the spores were soon able to survive the journey through the stomachs of these organisms...to a degree. About 80% of these seeds were destroyed in the process, and another 7% were devoured by detritivores, leaving a scant 13% to survive. But the distance that these spores could travel made up for this, and by the time that the Nukean Period started, the stalk's roots had begun to wrap around the main crystal's body, as it too had softened. Also, the points on these crystals have slowly disappeared, as the sharp edges discouraged most herbivores.