Alpine Cirrus

Alpine Cirruses form large colonies of downy strands. In Drake Alpine, Alpine Cirruses live practically everywhere: other than Larachoys, it has few flora to compete with in its ground-hugging flora niche. Alpine Cirrus colonies are delicate, and easily smashed apart by organisms so small and light as a Loafpick. Thus, in Drake Boreal, it occurs only in the higher altitudes with somewhat sparser large, heavy fauna or large trees to block its light, and it is not so common, with smaller colony sizes.

Alpine Cirruses photosynthesize from their fronds. As the fronds absorb UV light, the photosynthetic pigment seems colorless to human eyes. They lack roots, but can slowly absorb minerals from dust, dusty breezes, and dung. Alpine Cirruseses are diazotropic, allowing them to fix nitrogen from the air.

Alpine Cirruses’ ancestors typically lived in clouds, which are more consistently wet and somewhat insulated from intense UV light than their alpine habitats. However, though Alpine Cirruses live in areas where ground-level cloud cover is common, the protective clouds are not constant, making photo-protection more necessary. Its low concentrations of allomelanins, a dark brown photoprotective pigment, help it survive sunny days, setting it apart from its colorless ancestor.

The species has only one defense against fauna that would eat it or break it apart: its two poisons, lyngbyatoxin A and debromoaplysiatoxin. The poisons cause rashes similar to seaweed dermatitis upon skin contact with various fauna, such as Loafpicks and their relatives. The poison is quick to decay, however, making litter layers of Alpine Cirruses harmless. It is more of an issue in Drake Alpine, where they exist in greater numbers.

Due to nitrogen fixation, Alpine Cirruses gradually make the thin soil of alpine and boreal habitats higher in nitrogen. Dead colonies turn greyish-brown and then dark brown as they decay. They form a significant litter layer in the higher altitudes of Drake Boreal. Alpine Cirruses’ spread by wind is limited, as they tend to be larger and heavier than their Hair Nimbuses ancestors. Therefore, their distribution is limited to fairly moist, high-altitude, high-UV habitats without too many large fauna to damage them or large flora to block their light.