Dressed Sporestalk

Evolving from the skirtstalk, the dressed sporestalk features numerous small adaptations that led it to replace its ancestor. The most obvious is the former “skirt” having expanded in size to give more photosynthetic capability, creating the “dress” from which the species derives its name. Along with this, the dressed sporestalk has a large root system in order to intake nutrients needed to facilitate the growth and maintenance of the “dress”. Like its ancestor, the dressed sporestalk is tolerant of the salt in ocean water, while its cell walls have adapted to be much more difficult to penetrate by morsus turpis, allowing it to grow quickly and easily. However, it requires incoming tides to replenish nutrients in the sands on which it grows, yet the dressed sporestalk cannot grow in or underwater, restricting it to the Yokto Coast where it evolved.

In regards to reproduction, the dressed sporestalk is very similar to its ancestors, ejecting thick clouds of orange spores that have the capability to suffocate animals if enough of them discharge simultaneously. The dressed sporestalk, specifically, only discharges its spores when the stalk is stimulated by vibration, causing spores to be discharged during windy periods which will enhance dispersal. Unlike its ancestors, the spores are not discharged by the bud opening completely, but by the upper portion opening while the lower portion contracts, allowing the dressed sporestalk to maintain conditions inside the bud and begin creating a new batch of spores more quickly.