Cloudgrump: Difference between revisions
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|creator = Disgustedorite
|image = Cloudgrump.png
|ancestor = Cloudgrass
|habitat =
|size = 20 cm thick individual, up to 50 meter wide colony
|support = Cell Wall (Cellulose), Flotation Sac (Hydrogen)
|locomotion = Sessile, Aeroplanktonic
|diet = Photosynthesis, Aeroplanktivore (<2 cm)
|respiration = Passive (Stomata)
|thermoregulation = Ectotherm
|reproduction = Sexual (Spores)
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|genus = Volantigleba
|species = megavesica
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[[File:Cloudgrump Outer Layer.png|thumb|Structure of Outer Layer]]
As is the case with other contemporary flying flora, metals from captured particles of dust and dirt are incorporated into the
Cloudgrumps need surprisingly little water for their size due to them being mostly hollow. All of their water is contained in their outer layer and their interior is incredibly dry. This is because even a small contamination of water vapor, such as 0.1%, inside the hydrogen sac will cause the grump to sink. While one would think this would make grumps prone to exploding in a spectacular ball of flame, this is not the case. While spectacular explosions most certainly do occur, especially in the drier parts of the sky, the most common cause of explosions is lightning strikes, and a healthy cloudgrump is more than equipped to handle these. As mentioned before, its skin contains metals which prevent hydrogen from leaking. However, these are also used to form a passive lightning defense system. Instead of passing through the hydrogen sac, which is protected by cellulose which has low conductivity, the electricity is directed along the exterior and down to the bottom of the organism by the far more conductive metal component, where it then exits out a hanging tendril and strikes the ground far below. Most cloudgrumps are struck by lightning thousands of times in their lives without suffering significant injury, but can still eventually die from one if they are struck while dormant and dehydrated; in this case, there will be no moisture to suppress the fire, so it will rapidly reach their interior and cause a nearly instantaneous explosion. Large grumps exploding can devastate the ecosystems below them by causing a massive wildfire, but most grumps which reside in dry environments where this is possible are very small and their burning chunks only cause a fire as big as one the lightning strike could cause on its own. The cloudgrump lacks the ability to actively move towards humidity, instead relying on clouds to form nearby to it as it drifts in the wind.
Like its ancestor, the cloudgrump reproduces using spores. Unlike its ancestor, it could be broadly described as viviparous. When it collects spores from other grumps, it holds onto them after fertilization, passing cloudbubble cryoutines to the developing embryo. The embryo has a bubble of its own from very early on but struggles to float with it, so the parent provides it with the nutrients it needs to grow long stiff fibers. Though the embryo within is just a few millimeters across, the fibers can be as much as 10 centimeters in length at birth. The fibers are transparent, stiff, and hydrophobic. When released, the juvenile, called a bubbling, drifts downwards
==Etymology==
The
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