Pelagic Puffgrass

The Pelagic Puffgrass split from its ancestor. With the rise of the Seashrog came the appearance of massive amounts of driftwood left over from destroyed nests. The Pelagic Puffgrass grows on the driftwood, more or less using it as though it were a nurse log. This has caused it to spread over a significant portion of the ocean, but being specialized for life on driftwood it has not replaced its ancestor and it is very rare to find it growing on sand.

The Pelagic Puffgrass’s reproduction has been altered. Its unfertilized spores are no longer puffy. It now comes in male and female. Females do not release their spores at all, keeping them inside a protective fleshy structure somewhat resembling many individual scales of a pine cone growing along a stem. Male spores are still dispersed by wind, though they may occasionally land in the water and instead be splashed onto the female by sea spray. Either way, after fertilization, the zygote grows the long hairs that give the puffgrass lineage its name, and they are dispersed by wind. They actually do not wait to germinate, growing necessary structures such as small leaves and roots immediately so that they will obtain food and water in the meantime and be ready to go the moment they encounter driftwood. Pieces of driftwood can often be covered in many unrelated individuals.

Like its ancestor, the Pelagic Puffgrass deals with excess salt by transporting it to a few designated leaves which are then shed. However, given the ocean is much saltier than what its ancestor faced on beaches, it has had to make some improvements. It now also secretes much of its salt to make room for additional salt in the same leaf. It is also capable of not absorbing any more water at all if it has had too much salt buildup, such as if its log is too saturated or it grew too far down, instead waiting for freshwater to rain down in a storm for it to absorb; however, this will only occur after an extended period of time without rain.

Though it mainly grows on driftwood, it is also possible for Pelagic Puffgrass to grow on Seashrog and Marine Tamow nests which are currently in use. However, in cases like this it will often be trampled or otherwise crushed by activity.