Larachoy

Larachoys live from 4.7 to 5.4 kilometers above sea level. It specializes in cold, dry, windy areas with thin soil, where most large flora struggle to survive. Its buried shells-turned-bases function as rhizomes. Larachoys live for many years, and often reproduces every year. It goes dormant during the winter. Larachoys live in large patches or even Larachoy-dominant meadows in their habitats, so much of the ground can look dark bluish-green. Larachoys exist in two ecotypes: genetically distinct populations or varieties within a species locally adapted to particular environmental conditions, but whose phenotypic differences are too small to warrant being called a subspecies. The two ecotypes both exist within a high-altitude range in the Drake Boreal and Drake Alpine habitats. Both are descended from a dark green Larand species. Alpine variant: Spindly, spoon-shaped stalks; typically three spore stalks. The roots become very fine and delicate mere millimeters off the base, and are almost inevitably separated if one lifts the organism from the substrate. They are roughly 5 mm tall when fully grown.The alpine populations are very dark green with a bluish tinge, due to slightly different proportions of pigments between ecotypes. Boreal variant: Upright clumps with many spore stalks; more than the alpine ecotype, and typically five stalks. Its shell-turned-base is an inverted, flattened dome shape. It has thicker, sturdier, bristlier-looking rhizomes. The boreal populations are very dark green. They are roughly 1 cm tall when fully grown. The boreal population typically lives under the treeline, while the alpine population typically lives above it. Where conditions are unusually cold and windy, though, the alpine population can be found a little farther down.