Wallace Puffgrasses

The Wallace puffgrasses integrate their ancestors, the puffgrass, the tropical puffgrass, and the beach puffgrass, and further diversify into additional species both larger and smaller. They are small, numerous herbs which fill the role of ground cover in some parts of Wallace and Koseman, and they generally populate bare soil after the arrival of crystal entourage swordgrasses, but before the arrival of larger flora. Their leaves and stalk grow from a point very low to the ground, which makes it more likely that they will have some of their stem left over from which they can heal. Contrary to their name, they are not particularly grasslike, as they do not bud.

There are many species of Wallace puffgrass. The tallest species thrive in large numbers in open biomes such as the plains and shrublands, and they are still able to reach as tall as a meter in open frigid biomes such as the alpine tundra. Some of the smallest species live in harsher environments such as among rock that has yet to be completely turned to soil, newly cooled lava flows, or in the polar barrens where there is only a very short period in which they can grow; these are annual, only germinating in brief favorable conditions and dying soon after producing their spores. Some species are able to tolerate salty conditions, such as beaches and mangals, by concentrating salt and other excess in certain leaves and shedding them. Similar has actually been present in all puffgrasses to remove other excess minerals, and some species use this to remove metals. The only environment with soil that they find no success in is in the shade of the old growth dark forests, but even here, fertilized spores may lay dormant waiting for a tree to die and expose the forest floor to sunlight.

Wallace puffgrasses seasonally produce spores at the tops of their puffy stalks, which vary in number between species (extra stalks having evolved several times independently). Ordinarily, gametes meeting in midair is not very effective. However, the spores of puffgrasses, and puffplants as a whole, are puffy, which allows them to collide more easily and be blown into the air again if they fail. Some species thrive in clearings and young growth forests with little wind; these often have smaller spores and may meet in water instead. Some species have stiff leaves which can retain water very well, while some others have more flexible leaves that can resist strong wings. Some species produce spores once a year, but some, especially those with many predators, will do so many times a year instead, maximizing reproductive success.

Wallace puffgrasses have a relationship with the crystal entourage swordgrasses. The swordgrasses grow first, covering the ground before the soil can support anything else and feeding off of organic content in the substrate. However, eventually, the faster-growing purple flora arrive, and Wallace puffgrasses in particular can seemingly rapidly replace the swordgrasses entirely. However, this is only what seems to be happening at the surface, and on closer examination the swordgrasses’ spore capsules are still visible among the puffgrasses’ leaves. In reality, the swordgrasses’ mycelial network remains underground, and many puffgrasses have formed a symbiotic relationship with the swordgrasses, exchanging some of their sugars for nitrogenous compounds that they can use to help grow. This benefits both: accepting sugars provided by the puffgrasses has a greater net energy profit to the swordgrasses than growing crystal leaves, which also leaves them with excess ammonium waste, which the puffgrasses are able to use to grow and thus make more sugar in a positive feedback loop. This symbiosis also allows the two genera to compete well with their “shared enemy”, the comparatively light-choking black flora, by growing more quickly than them.

Integrated Species

 * Puffgrass


 * Tropical Puffgrass


 * Beach Puffgrass