Introduction to Extant Flora
From Sagan 4 Alpha Wiki
- This page is under construction.
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
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
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
Bubbleweeds
- 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
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
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
Lightberries are varieties of puffplants which have very lightweight berries designed for airborne dispersal. Once diverse, in the modern day they have been whittled down to just a few species.
Ball Flora
- Main article: Ball Flora
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
The korystals are non-photosynthetic, sometimes branching crystal flora which have a distinctive red color and exist as decomposers in many environments.
Phytodiamonds
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
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
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
Dendrons
Black Flora
- Main article: Black Flora
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
Spore Sprouts
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
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
Iron Flora
- Main article: Ironplants
Crescos
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
Glass Flora
- Main article: Glass Flora
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
Gildlings
Twinkiiros
Boneflora
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
