Introduction to Extant Flora

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With so many varieties of plant, algae, and fungus analogues, Sagan 4 can be a botanist's dream--or a botanist's nightmare, with how scattered information on most of them is. Nonetheless, this page serves to introduce each main group of flora.


Purple Flora

Main article: Purple Flora
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Purple flora are, largely, exactly as described in their name--purple plants.

Most bizarrely, purple flora are actually a sister group to--of all things--the krakowpedes, which are likewise in the same kingdom.

Humms

Main article: Humms
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Humms are only distantly related to other purple flora. Their distinctively-shaped leaves produce sound when wind passes through them. They are found on multiple landmasses, but much of their diversity lies specifically in Drake and Ramul.

Poison Flora

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Poison flora are an ancient offshoot of purple flora which, as their name suggests, are usually poisonous. Many species produce acidic fruits.

Bubbleweeds

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Main article: Bubble Flora

The bubbleweeds are an ancient group of purple plants which use bubbles filled with hydrogen for flotation. Most modern species are aquatic, though they have extinct relatives that used to form many of Sagan 4's early inland forests.

Puffplants

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Puffplants constitute many of the seed- and flower-bearing purple plants on Sagan 4. They come in a variety of grass- and sedge-like forms, as well as many kinds of trees and shrubs.

Carnoferns

Main article: Carnoferns
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Carnoferns are a noteworthy branch of puffplants which form many kinds of fruit-bearing shrubs and trees. They are named for the fern-like growth of some species, and for their ancestors which were carnivorous, though most modern species are not.

Lightberries

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Lightberries are varieties of puffplants which have very lightweight berries designed for airborne dispersal. Once a diverse clade which formed the forests of what are now Dixon and Barlowe, in the modern day they have been whittled down to just a few relatively small species.

Ball Flora

Main article: Ball Flora
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Ball flora are so named for their origins as simple, spherical plants which filled a similar role to mosses. Some modern species retain a similar appearance, but others have grown into shrubs and trees. They are the most diverse clade of purple flora on Sagan 4.

Shrooms

Main article: Shroom
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Shrooms are a subgroup of ball flora which superficially resemble mushrooms and don't perform photosynthesis. Many of them are decomposers, though some are also parasitic.

Orbions

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Orbions are various shrub-like ball flora which are distinguished by their prominent prongs, which are arranged radially at the top of a typically-robust stem. They range from grass- to tree-like forms.

Fuzzballs

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Fuzzballs are distinguished from other ball flora by their fuzzy texture. They range from primitive hairy orbs to larger fruit-bearing trees and shrubs.

Pioneeroots

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The pioneeroots are a diverse grouping of ball flora which evolved vascular tissue in a very short time span at the end of Sagan 4's last ice age. Most species are very tiny and fleshy, and they tend to appear during early succession.

Yanisflora

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The yanisflora are a distinct lineage of purple plants which frequently grow in puddles, which they protect and expand as they grow. Their distinctive yellow color comes from a pigment which fills a similar function to anthocyanin in Earth's plants.

Crystal Flora

Main article: Crystal Flora
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As their name implies, crystal flora externally resemble crystals. They originated from the same ancient symbiosis which produced worms, consisting of two distinct cell lines, fleshy fungus-like red tissue (forming the core and mycelium/roots) and chitinous photosynthesizing green tissue (forming their characteristic shell). The ancestors of crystal flora could change color under different lighting conditions, resulting in the diverse color variation among modern groups.

Pyamus

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Pyamuses are an ancient branch of crystal flora which primarily live in the ocean. They are non-photosynthetic, and many species are filter-feeders.

Korystals

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The korystals are non-photosynthetic, sometimes branching crystal flora which have a distinctive red color and exist as decomposers in many environments.

Phytodiamonds

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The phytodiamonds are various marine crystals which use an orange photosynthetic pigment. Most species can float at the surface of the water and have trailing mycelia which can capture prey.

Hollow Crystals

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Hollow crystals make up the majority of crystal flora on land, and their crystals have a stringy internal structure with a large central air pocket. Many species release their reproductive spores from "hatches" in the crystal shell, where certain panels open up to release them into the air. They include the cellulosebanes, the grovecrystals, the venemoralds, the crystal swordgrasses, the crystal shells, and all their derivatives.

Terrace Crystals

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The terrace crystals are relatives of phytodiamonds which live primarily on land. They have a distinctive layered or segmented structure, where multiple crystal caps grow one on top of one another, resulting in a generally more flexible form than other crystal flora.

Shrubites

Main article: Shrubite
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Dendrons

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Black Flora

Main article: Black Flora
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Black flora are various groups of multicellular flora and their microbial algae ancestors which have black photosynthetic pigments. They range in form from simple phytoplankton to towering trees.

Starflora

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Spore Sprouts

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The spore sprouts make up the majority of black flora diversity, ranging from tiny sprouts to towering rainforest trees. Most species are some form of spore stalk.

Obsidian Plants

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Obsidian plants are various woody trees and shrubs derived from spore stalks. More basal species resemble palm trees in overall shape, effectively just being upscaled spore stalks, and can be found on most landmasses. Descendants of the Lacy-Leaf Obsiditree found in Wallace and Kosemen have fractal branches and in some cases multiple clusters of spore pods, causing them to resemble more typical forest trees.

Droopgeas

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Iron Flora

Main article: Ironplants
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Crescos

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Crescos are a group of flora that are primarily green in coloration and often have the ability to move. While the vast majority of this group consists of aquatic forms, one group known as the larands are fully terrestrial, being found on every landmass.

Gelatins

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Glass Flora

Main article: Glass Flora
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Contrary to their name and superficial appearance, glass flora are made of chitin, rather than glass. These tough, cold-loving plants commonly have lens-like shells which can ignite their surroundings.

Jornflora

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Gildlings

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Twinkiiros

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Boneflora

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The boneflora are a primarily aquatic group of flora descended from the luminuses. Boneflora can be best described as seaweeds that grow calcified shells. This adaptation earns the group their name since when combined with their red pigmentation, it causes them to look like bones and raw meat.

Flash Flora

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