Weeping Baseejie

The weeping baseejie split from its ancestor and has moved closer to the coast. It has developed a variety of adaptations that allow it to survive along the shoreline. The first of these adaptations is the lenticel-covered adventitious roots that sprout from the exposed sections of the weeping baseejie's roots. These gas-absorbing lenticels allow the weeping baseejie to compensate for the gas-poor, waterlogged soil of the shoreline. While the weeping baseejie can live in the shallow waters of Soma Temperate Coast, they only occur within the intertidal zone, as the spores don't sink in water and thus, cannot take root. The weeping baseejie's main defense against salt can be found its large, crystalline leaves. All of the leaves are now hollow like that of their ancestors' fruit leaves. The leaves will pump out hypersaline brine, which trickles out of the leaves' pores. This gives the tree the appearance of it sweating or crying. These leaves grow in groups of three in whorls of four. The weeping baseejie will transfer sugar into its leaves during the fall as a means to prevent its cells from being killed by the cold. The weeping baseejie also enters a state of reduced activity over the winter as a means of conserving its energy. This state of torpor gives way to outright hibernation in the population of weeping baseejies living along the section of Soma Temperate Beach that is adjacent to Drake Taiga. When spring arrives, the sugars will be released from the leaves with the usual salt. Contrarily, populations living on Ramul Island do not hibernate at all. The weeping baseejie will also produce a whorl of eight spore-fruits just below the leaves throughout the summer in Drake, and all year on Ramul Island. These fruits are derived from their ancestors' spore-filled 'flowers'. However, these fruits are meant to be consumed by their 'pollinator', the courier phlyer. The fruits of the weeping baseejie are filled with a somewhat sticky, sweet jelly that tastes similar to sugar-coated strawberries. While the fruits still retain their pores, xenobees have a tougher time slurping out the thick jelly and the spores have a lower dispersal rate than if they were consumed by the courier phlyer.