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Stylicads (Stylocaulis spp.) [Stylus Stem]
Creator: Salty
Ancestor: Drylicad
Habitat: Talon-Dixon-Fermi (excluding Taiga, Hot Desert and Salt Flats), Dorite Island
Size: 5-20 meters
Support: Woody Trunk
Diet: Photosynthesis (Full Sun)
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Respiration: Passive (Stomata)
Reproduction: Sexual (Metagenesis, airborne spores)

Stylicads have capitalized on the lack of competition following the recent extinction event to radiate into a myriad of shrub to tree sized flora. They have spread across all of Talon-Dixon-Fermi and have spread via airborne spores to the newly emerged Dorite Island. The genus diverged from Drylicads by a mutation in their reproductive structures. While in Drylicad the Male and Zygote bulbs produced in reproduction are situated on long stems, and only the female bulb remains incorporated into the reproductive stem; Stylicads have incorporated the male bulbs into the reproductive stem as well. This development protects the male bulbs from being broken off by weather or fauna, allowing them to be active for longer periods and produce more gametes.

Stylicads reproduction is much the same as their ancestor. The Reproductive stem is the final growth of the Stylicads, erupting from the crown once the individual has reached its full height. The stem is covered in small pits which serve two purposes; accepting spores from other Stylicads of its species, and producing a thin film of water to ease reproduction. The first spores that reach the Stylicads reproductive stem will integrate into the stem and create a female bulb which grows at the stem's base. Once the base has produced enough female bulbs, all future bulbs created in this process will be male and will grow above the female bulbs. Once a sufficient number of male and female bulbs are produced, reproduction occurs each night for the duration of the bulbs functionality. The male bulbs produce swimming gametes which will swim to and enter the female bulbs. There they will fuse to form zygotes which travel internally through the vascular tissue of the reproductive stem to its top to produce a zygote bulb. The zygote bulb will erupt from the reproductive stem several days later to release its spores into the wind for the next generation.

Stylicads are sun loving and form fairly open canopies which allow their offspring to grow unshaded. Their fronds become a light pink when dry, resulting in a light pink to white leaf litter. The largest species inhabit Talons tropical Rainforest, reaching up to 20 meters tall. With most other species in the rainforest, cloud forest and monsoon forests of Talon growing at or above 15 meters. Dryer regions of Talon are dominated by species ranging from 5-15 meters tall. These species tend towards thicker trunks and slower growth. Subtropical and temperate species rarely exceed 10 meters tall. No species has managed to expand into the Taiga, Hot Deserts or Salt Flats of the region as these biomes are beyond their salt tolerance and reach extremes outside of their temperature range.

The swapping of the male and female gametophytes here does sort of assume that a retcon to their placement already occurred. We should switch them to the order they’re in here for all the other species before this one is approved.

Note to all those that did not participate in the retcon discussion: Descriptions of living notchpalms imply that the female gametophytes are above the male ones. However, this doesn’t make much sense, since that would mean the male gametophytes would have to swim upwards and along a thin stalk to reach the female gametophytes. This genus is intended to retcon this so that the male gametophytes (which in this group have lost their stalks) are the ones situated above the female ones, but this neglects the fact that the opposite arrangement has already been mentioned in other descriptions on occasion.

This post has been edited by Cube67: Feb 21 2023, 07:15 AM