Vesuvianite Tree

The Vesuvianite Tree split from its ancestor and grew very large, due to it having already been the largest flora in its environment and there not being anything in the way of it getting larger. It has regained airborne spores, allowing it to reproduce sexually. The spores do not produce cellulase. It has gained greater branching capability, which has caused it to look more like a tree and cast shade on competing flora. A microclimate has formed among its branches, where arboreal and semi-arboreal fauna may climb and nest. Its spores are released from dedicated spore crystals, as in its more deadly distant ancestors. Its reddish roots are now underground to protect them from potential predators, leaving just the yellowish chitinous trunk above ground. Its spores are airborne enough that they become aeroplankton, and as such it is also present on Ramul Island, though spores that travel much further usually die. It is still able to bud asexually and form clonal colonies, but it does this less often, as these offspring are often too close and will compete with their parents for sunlight. The Vesuvianite Tree is slower-growing than its ancestor. It can take as long as 100 years to reach full size, though it can live for well over a thousand. To help it support its chitinous structures, it has regained its long-lost detritivory so it may obtain more nitrogen, using its roots to feed on organic matter underground and on the remains of other flora in its environment. This helps young trees especially, so that they may grow even in the dark shadows of other flora.