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Scarlet-Harlequin-N — Random -Hup tree-

#hup #mother #takas #tree #world
Published: 2017-08-20 19:38:43 +0000 UTC; Views: 435; Favourites: 17; Downloads: 0
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Description Forgot about this.  Some studies of a certain kind of tree that grows in some Hup jungles.  While the tree itself is a certain sex of the common Takas tree, it is called a mother tree or world tree.  C-A2 Takas are the largest trees on the planet, growing to immense heights with monstrous canopy widths and root systems that can spread over miles.  In jungles where these trees grow, the root systems they spread out become the foundation to much of the other plant life around it.  From its roots it grows the more numerous C-B2 takas trees in a clonal spreading fashion.  Other trees like the Borqoi, root red and scanga trees grow in a symbiotic parasitic fashion on its roots and trunk.  While other trees can survive without a mother tree, the C-A2 trees cannot survive long without a healthy colony to trade nutrients with... entire jungle floors and complete forests may grow exclusively on single trees which can live for thousands of years.
New C-A2 Takas trees develop from illusive C-C2 Takas trees which have seeded and attached to the roots of a tree usually different than the one it was seeded from or some other kind of dead growth nursery.  They develop into new mother trees following the death of the larger tree or a destruction of the forest immediately around it, which allows it to hijack excessive amounts of nutrients, have a growth-spurt and develop reproductive qualities.  It will then abduct the roots of the living colony, and spread its own.  If a new growing C-A2 Takas is too near another C-A2, the already established tree is often coated in roots and choked out, in which some of its root system is also hijacked or root systems remains alive within the smaller clonal colony trees without an actual mother tree present to them.  The death of C-A2 trees often allows the spreading of vein reds, which grow in between C-A2 growth areas, as the edges of roots become weak and die.  This allows nutrients to seep into otherwise poor soil that vein reds find ideal, giving them the ability to spread seeds and retake ground.
The shape of the canopy is cone-like, with leaves interweaving tightly to form a relatively solid top to collect sunlight.  While some canopies may not be much wider than the actual trunk, others may create a vast umbrella that shades anything underneath it.  flowering branches grow from budding locations in between branches, which grow large flowers and fruits year round.  Seeds are spread mostly by animals, however when left to themselves a fruit will dry up into a hallow ball and crack open and the seeds will form a sail-like fluffy membrane that is caught by high winds.  Tunnels and holes can be found weaving all through the inside of the trunk.

C-A2 trees are valuable homes to many canopy orekroarks that live within the branches and black skin orekroarks that often make elaborate homes in their trunks.


All that is Hup (c) Morgan Banks
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Comments: 7

Ramul [2017-08-21 06:46:38 +0000 UTC]

With that size they would need an active fluid transport with something akin to hearts to keep everything moving.
Also, how do they colonize new territory if C-A2 types only grow on dead C-A2's? 

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Scarlet-Harlequin-N In reply to Ramul [2017-08-21 08:30:18 +0000 UTC]

There have been some accounts of what could be considered minor vascular activity in some plants... mainly less woody plants that can contract their cells given the proper stimulus that might not be a bad idea to include into the large tree anatomy.  Hup has some migrating plants based on simple cell contractions to allow a crawling kind of movement, so it might not be outlandish for the larger trees to have an internal system of more sophisticated pumps.  otherwise there have been records of tree remains suggesting sizes that seem to defy fluid hydraulic physics, in which surface gravity and atmosphere are speculated to have an effect.  Since Hup's Surface gravity is meant to be low, it can allow for larger plant growth and the thicker atmosphere can allow a higher pressure value in which the internal fluids are influence by, sort of like high pressure squishing a water bottle.  The hydraulic redistribution is very slow and based on how many other clonal trees share nutrients with each other, like aspens, which can grow from a single tree and spread over a very large distance, with some nutrient distribution eventually leading back to central trees from the borders.  One of the things I had dabbled with in how nutrients moves up and down in one tree was a development of a more gently vertical spiral formation rather than a straight up and down structure like our trees, which would allow more fluid movement battling gravity.
I should probably edit that and add some info...  C-C2 can also grow on bare ground, parasitically from other trees/root systems or from dead growth nursery areas... but they require an excess of nutrients to develop/mature into a C-A2 tree.  So a seed landing in an area where there are no other C-A2 can still take root there and wait for a chance to mature and form a new colony.  An ideal growth situation would be attaching to an established C-A2, as it wouldn't necessarily have to start from scratch and it could trade genetic information more easily for future reproduction.  But colonizing on its own from, say, an area leveled by a fire would give it enough nutrients to begin transition, in which it will suddenly grow, develop reproductive capabilities and begin growing C-B2 trees from its roots.

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Ramul In reply to Scarlet-Harlequin-N [2017-08-21 21:26:40 +0000 UTC]

Well, with the way fluids work, having the system as a spiral won't decrease the pressure. A possibility could be to separate the vascular system into compartiments which are connected through sufficiently robust membranes or other means to transport water and nutrients between them in a controlled fashion.

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Scarlet-Harlequin-N In reply to Ramul [2017-08-21 23:06:53 +0000 UTC]

Oh no its not to decrease pressure, pressure needs to remain high.  It's more to decrease the effects of a downward pull by eliminating directly vertical movement.  But I do like the idea of vascular compartments.  I imagine it would help make pools of stored nutrients as well that it could pull from rather than moving fluids directly from the roots all the time.

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Ramul In reply to Scarlet-Harlequin-N [2017-08-22 06:08:36 +0000 UTC]

The downward pull is equivalent to the pressure and would still be the same, regardless of the form. All that matters is the height of the water column.

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Scarlet-Harlequin-N In reply to Ramul [2017-08-23 01:25:12 +0000 UTC]

It was mainly a fleeting idea after the concept of frictive resistance... normally something that applies to rolling objects but can be applied to liquids as well when it comes to rough inclines.  Since the fluids won't be going back down the tree, it made sense to have an extra crutch in such a large organism to help keep things moving up.  But I suppose for the size vessels in a tree that wouldn't really be applicable to the situation.
At the time I'd read some research about hydraulic failure.  There are some pine tree species that have a spiral column for hydraulic distribution, which is thought to contribute in preventing failure due to the development of air pockets in some thicker trees as trapped air can be filtered vertically from the spiral into non xylem wood instead of getting stuck in the vessels and blocking the flow of fluids.  I'm not sure how accurate that conclusion is though, there were arguments stating the formation of branches along the trunk were more the reason and others arguing the spiral did in fact increase internal pressure somehow.
I think I still prefer the idea of a vascular pump though.

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Ramul In reply to Scarlet-Harlequin-N [2017-08-23 06:19:32 +0000 UTC]

That's interesting information. Yes, in the case of bubble formation, having an inclined system would indeed make a difference. Growing in a spiral also makes the tree more stable in general, with the effects on bubble formation and internal pressure possibly being secondary effects.

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