Cesta Volleypom
| Cesta Volleypom | ||
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| (Paxillinux lataramus) | ||
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| Information | ||
| Creator | Colddigger Other | |
| Week/Generation | 27/167 | |
| Habitat | South Darwin Plains, South Darwin Rocky, Darwin Highboreal, Darwin Temperate Woodland, South Darwin Highvelt, Wallace Plains | |
| Size | 30 M Tall | |
| Primary Mobility | Sessile | |
| Support | Cellulose, Lignin (Cell Walls) | |
| Diet | Photosynthesis | |
| Respiration | Passive (Tracheal system in leaves, Lenticels and air labyrinth throughout tissue) | |
| Thermoregulation | Heliothermy (Black Pigmentation) | |
| Reproduction | Sexual, Hard Shelled Megaspores, Airborne Microspores | |
| Taxonomy | ||
| Domain Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species | Eukaryota Melanophyta Melanoanthae Obsidianophyllopsida Polymelanophyllales Corticihirsutaceae Paxillinux Paxillinux lataramus | |
| Ancestor: | Descendants: |
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The Cesta Volleypom split from its ancestor and spread more inland, existing mainly around the inland portion of South Darwin Plains, South Darwin Rocky, Darwin Highboreal, Darwin Temperate Woodland, South Darwin Highvelt, and Wallace Plains. Its growth habit is less columnar, with weaker apical dominance in growth resulting in strong branches dominating the central body structure instead. This increased branchiness provides them with a large canopy of overlapping layers. These layers can be varying in appearance due to different light and wind exposures influencing their growth of trichomes, some layers even appearing snow white. The populations of this tree are generally sparsely scattered or in tiny clusters across their environment.
The leaves of the Cesta Volleypom have diverged from the typical structure of its ancestors. In summer leaves the tracheal vein core expands in diameter to such a degree to give the whole leaf a trumpeted shape. Tracheal veins begin development very early and briefly off the core and reach parallel along its length. This results in complete loss of the pinnate form and gives rise to a redundant and damage resistant form. Pneumathodes still exist at the ends of the tracheal veins, while evaporation occurs mainly on the inside face of the trumpet form, allowing for a higher humidity environment and lessening the affects of wind. In winter leaves the tracheal vein core terminates nearly immediately once tracheal veins begin development, this results in a splayed clump of needles rather than the fishbone of the Shaggy Volleypom or the singular needle of the Contorted Volleypom. Summer leaves can measure up to 15 cm in length, while winter leaves rarely exceed 5 cm.
Microsporangia now grow more tightly together and in larger number. The size of an individual structure is the same as its ancestor, 2–3 cm long, with clusters still measuring up to 40 cm long, however the sheer quantity results is a group with far higher mass. This greatly increases the amount of microspores released into the air at once during breeding. The majority of the micrsporangia occur near the top, or base where the cluster attaches to the tree, with the density decreasing as the individuals age and drip further and further down. Maturity of units occurs in reverse, with the oldest microsporangia hanging at the bottom and opening first.
The megasporangium are the namesake of the Cesta Volleypom. The air pocket of their ancestor no longer occurs, rather the empty space behind the reproductive portion of the sporangium becomes a flat piece. This had proven useful in taking advantage of wind to knock the structure loose and fling it away from the parent tree. Because of this the flat piece rapidly grew in size and became scoop shaped, like a shallow basket with a handle at one end. This basket and sporangium can have a length of up to 40 cm. The sporangium alone rarely reaching 10 cm long. The inside is packed with the megaspores, measuring 5 mm to 1 cm across, which have further hardened their armored spore wall or shell to become a very tough nutlet. When flung from the mother Cesta Volleypom the dry megasporangium will erupt on impact with the ground and fling the nutlets in all directions. Most sprouts do not survive their first year due to predation or environmental stresses.