Bonespire: Difference between revisions
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Splitting from its ancestor, the '''bonespires''' have come to grow massive indeed, towering high over the desert landscapes they inhabit. Because of this great increase in size, their spines have shrunken considerably due to lack of necessity for large ones, though to compensate these spines have instead become much more numerous in order to ward off whatever herbivore may attempt to feed off this flora. Those few herbivores that manage to pass through this spiny defense must then come across another: the tough, fibrous "wood" that makes up the trunk of this flora is thick to prevent water loss. Said bark provides another defense, as its pale white color helps to reflect sunlight. A dense, spreading root system lies just beneath the sand, helping to secure these giants in place, as well as the stabilize the ground it grows out of. Because of this smaller flora that typically
All these changes pale to what could be considered one of the greatest in the evolutionary line of this species, the production of seeds. No longer reliant on the mass production of spores, the bonespires instead produce hardy seeds from within the flowering tops, which are pollinated by various small fauna like desert-dwelling [[xenobees]] and [[dartirs]], which are attracted with a pungent, if somewhat rancid odor. Once pollination is completed, these flora produce encapsulated seeds which are carried off in the blowing winds. Said seeds are incredibly small, and are released in a cloud of their even smaller, spore-like unfertilized brethren, creating a haze-like cloud that drifts for a time. After some time, anywhere from several hours to even days depending on how strong the wind is, they will eventually settle down, whereupon they quickly take root and prepare to grow. They remain dormant until the rains come, or until sufficient water is present. Not all will make it, as the desert heat is a fierce opponent, but those that do manage to germinate will eventually give rise to a new floral giant that will join with others in steadily increasing, if somewhat sparse, forests that have now begun to cover the majority of the island.
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