Chapter 1

Chapter 8 - Land Plants

The plants on Qui are in many ways different than those on Earth, thought they share the ability to synthesize food using solar energy.

Qui's land plants are direct descendants of the inter-tidal Branching Discus plants. During periodic sea level fluctuations throughout Qui's evolutionary history, some inter-tidal plants survived better (and longer) out of water than others. These survivors evolved into the many and varied plants that cover the landscape on Qui.

Derived from a common ancestor, and having evolved in an environment of often punishing winds and relatively strong gravitational forces, Qui's plants are very similar in size, shape, and basic structure. All have developed adaptations to help them deal with the near constant wind and to turn that wind to their advantage (reproductively or otherwise).

Filter Plant Tropical Zone

Description:

Owing to Qui's strong gravity and wind, most plants on Qui are stocky and low to the ground. The Filter plant is no different. It has evolved a unique appendage - essentially a star-shaped, aboveground root, at the end of which is a network of fine root hairs. This appendage functions as a net, filtering food particles, pollen and other debris from Qui's moist winds. The filter plant is able to "digest" these particles, supplementing the energy that it creates for itself via photosynthesis

Windflowers Tropical Zone

Description:

The Windflowers propagates via wind-borne flowers. These flowers remain unopened at the end of stems which can grow as long as 200 feet. At an appropriate moment (usually corresponding to a strong gust of wind) the flower snaps open. For a brief moment, the flower remains attached to the stem, as it collects airborne pollen. Shortly thereafter, it breaks free from it's parent plant,carried sometimes for miles, eventually taking root and forming a new plant.

Streamer Plant Transition Zone

Description:

The Streamer Plant also uses Qui's constant winds to its advantage. Instead of flowering, the plant produces a long "streamer" up to six feet in length which flaps in the wind like a windsock. When the streamer becomes too long to hold itself up, or if a break in the steady winds occurs, the end of the streamer touches a bare patch of ground (under the correct conditions) and quickly sets root. A new "node" is thus born, but remains connected to the original plant. Single Streamer plants can thus extend for miles.

Stretch Plant Tropical/Evergreen Zones

Description:

The plants dominating the evergreen have substantial root systems - more than 70 percent of the plant actually exists underground. They set their roots at lower elevations, at the transition zone between the Tropical and the Evergreen zones. They then proceed to grow uphill - as the stems grow longer and longer, the plant's roots grow deeper and wider. The stems of the Stretch plant are packed with photosynthetic cells along their entire length. As the long stems become tangled together, they literally carpet the entire Evergreen zones, and providing food for the herbivorous eels, which in turn are preyed upon by their ferocious carnivorous counterparts.

Barb Plant Desert Zone

Description:

Qui's deserts make up a very small portion of Qui's total land surface. Nevertheless, they hold some of Qui's most interesting plants. The Barb Plants have developed carnivorous behaviors similar to those of Earth's Venus's Flytrap. Standing between 3 and 7 feet high, these plants possess a deep root system, similar to Qui's other plants (to keep the plant firmly anchored against the wind). A dense carpet of sensor roots lies just below the surface of the ground, and extends downwind to a distance of approximately 2 times the width of the plant. The plant itself consists of a single central mound, attached to which is a harpoon-like appendage attached to a long, spring-like stem. When the sensory roots detect motion, this harpoon is triggered and flies out at an alarming speed, piercing the unsuspecting plant or animal that triggered it. The stem then retracts, drawing the unfortunate victim into a "mouth" of sorts - a specialized root lying just above ground. Trapped below the "mouthroot", the victim eventually dies and decomposes, releasing crucial nutrients into the soil which are then taken up by the plant.


	Filter Plant	Tropical Zone
Description:
Owing to Qui's strong gravity and wind, most plants on Qui are stocky and low to the ground. The Filter plant is no different. It has evolved a unique appendage - essentially a star-shaped, aboveground root, at the end of which is a network of fine root hairs. This appendage functions as a net, filtering food particles, pollen and other debris from Qui's moist winds. The filter plant is able to "digest" these particles, supplementing the energy that it creates for itself via photosynthesis


	Windflowers	Tropical Zone
Description:
The Windflowers propagates via wind-borne flowers. These flowers remain unopened at the end of stems which can grow as long as 200 feet. At an appropriate moment (usually corresponding to a strong gust of wind) the flower snaps open. For a brief moment, the flower remains attached to the stem, as it collects airborne pollen. Shortly thereafter, it breaks free from it's parent plant,carried sometimes for miles, eventually taking root and forming a new plant.


	Streamer Plant	Transition Zone
Description:
The Streamer Plant also uses Qui's constant winds to its advantage. Instead of flowering, the plant produces a long "streamer" up to six feet in length which flaps in the wind like a windsock. When the streamer becomes too long to hold itself up, or if a break in the steady winds occurs, the end of the streamer touches a bare patch of ground (under the correct conditions) and quickly sets root. A new "node" is thus born, but remains connected to the original plant. Single Streamer plants can thus extend for miles.


	Stretch Plant	Tropical/Evergreen Zones
Description:
The plants dominating the evergreen have substantial root systems - more than 70 percent of the plant actually exists underground. They set their roots at lower elevations, at the transition zone between the Tropical and the Evergreen zones. They then proceed to grow uphill - as the stems grow longer and longer, the plant's roots grow deeper and wider. The stems of the Stretch plant are packed with photosynthetic cells along their entire length. As the long stems become tangled together, they literally carpet the entire Evergreen zones, and providing food for the herbivorous eels, which in turn are preyed upon by their ferocious carnivorous counterparts.


	Barb Plant	Desert Zone
Description:
Qui's deserts make up a very small portion of Qui's total land surface. Nevertheless, they hold some of Qui's most interesting plants. The Barb Plants have developed carnivorous behaviors similar to those of Earth's Venus's Flytrap. Standing between 3 and 7 feet high, these plants possess a deep root system, similar to Qui's other plants (to keep the plant firmly anchored against the wind). A dense carpet of sensor roots lies just below the surface of the ground, and extends downwind to a distance of approximately 2 times the width of the plant. The plant itself consists of a single central mound, attached to which is a harpoon-like appendage attached to a long, spring-like stem. When the sensory roots detect motion, this harpoon is triggered and flies out at an alarming speed, piercing the unsuspecting plant or animal that triggered it. The stem then retracts, drawing the unfortunate victim into a "mouth" of sorts - a specialized root lying just above ground. Trapped below the "mouthroot", the victim eventually dies and decomposes, releasing crucial nutrients into the soil which are then taken up by the plant.