Zuleus angiospermus terribilus moved onto land and started evolving into separate species as it adapted to differing environments and weather conditions. Remember that birds would feed on the Zuleus plant, which was found in water? Well when the bird left its droppings on land, the plant was able to grow and spread out.  Sounds gross, doesn't it? But that's exactly how it works.  In addition, when birds migrated they carried the plant to other parts of Kronos. I guess you can sort of say that on Kronos, plant life did not "walk onto land," it was flown onto it!

Adapting to the Tundra

After Zuleus moved on to land, a new species evolved in the tundra, Mosseus tundrianus. This plant is moss-like and grows near the ground. There are lots of leaves on the stem, which are usually only one cell thick and  do not have flowers or fruit. They can either reproduce by growing shoots or by sending out spores, which need to be wet to survive. Mosseus lives between seven and twelve years. Its growth is less than 0.5 cm per year, the largest plant seen so far was only three inches high. They have two life stages; gametophyte and sporophyte. Mosseus stores nutrients in the extreme cold so new leaves can be made quickly the next growing season. You can see changes in the plant which are due to the extreme temperatures found in the tundra.

The tundra on Kronos is truly a unique place; it provides quite a challenge for plant life. There are strong winds, which have been recorded up to 100 miles per hour. It is very cold here in the tundra: the average winter temperature is -13° F, and in the summer it is rarely over 50° F. The summertime lasts three to four months. In the winter it is dark most of the time, and during the other seasons it is usually overcast; therefore plants get small amounts of sunlight. The tundra is also unusually dry; it gets an average of just 23 cm of rainfall per year on Kronos.

Adapting to soil conditions

As a consequence of cold weather (brrrr!), nearly 75 % of the tundra is frozen.  It may go down for hundreds of feet. During the summers the top layer (maybe a foot or two) thaws, turning the surface into swampy mud. As the ground below the thawed area is still frozen solid, there is nowhere for the melt water to go. When cooler weather comes, the water freezes again. At this time there is no liquid water for the plants, which now face a drought as well as freezing temperatures.  This frozen soil prevents water from sinking into the ground. There are many cracks on the surface because of Krono's freezing and thawing over time. Mosseus have rhizoids (tiny rootlets) that run along the permafrost, instead of roots, to capture as much water as possible on the surface. The rhizoids can break through the ice and their outer coating prevents them from freezing like other plant life would.

Sulea's Land Plants

The Dry Desert

A Zuleus plant was carried into the desert area and a new plant evolved named Ocotillia flowerius. Strangely the Ocotillia plant remained true to the Zuleus shape. Each leaf evolved into a large woody stick(cane) that has small leaves with red flowers on it. This plant acquired special adaptations to help it reduce moisture loss and survive in sandy soil. A full grown plant can be up to 20 feet long and have up to 120 canes. The desert is an extreme environment for most of the year.  Sometimes temperatures can reach up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit accompanied by blasting sand storms that have been known to reach 50-70 miles per hour. 

Saving water

During photosynthesis, small pores (stomata) on the plant's leaves and stems open to absorb carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the air and in return release oxygen (O₂). Each time a plant opens its pores, some moisture is lost. This is called transpiration. Replacing this lost water is not easy with so little annual moisture; and if the water cannot be replaced, the desert plant will wilt and die. This desert plant has very small, much fewer, and deeper pores. The Ocotilia is nocturnal, meaning that it does not open its pores until the sun goes down and temperatures fall, this allows less water loss when transpiration occurs. In addition Ocotilia has an unusual adaptation for gathering water. Even though its leaves are very small, they are shaped like tacos. In the evenings when dew forms, this dew falls on the leaves which form little pools. The water then drops to the soil and the roots are able to absorb the water this way.

Adapting to soil conditions

The soil where this plant is found is sandy, which means that water runs through the soil very quickly when it rains. Ocotilia grows long, deep roots as well as a network of shallow roots that remain near the surface in order to absorb the precious rainfall. These roots have been known to grow up to 150 feet long.  As water travels through the soil, the plant already has roots there ready to absorb water. Even better, the roots serve as storage areas until the plant needs the water above ground. Even though the part of the plant that sticks out of the soil is only about 20 feet tall, the roots make up an even larger part of the plant. Ocotilia invests heavily in its root system; this way it absorbs as much water as possible whenever it needs to by using all the roots.

Another problem with this type of soil are the pH levels. The soil is so acidic that most plants would die because the nutrients are being drained by the soil. But Ocotilia has a mechanism to survive the pH. What it does is, using its root system, it releases alkaline minerals that counteract the acidity in the soil and allow the plant to flourish.  Clever little things aren't they?

Melea's Land Plants

The Forest

Deciduous forests on Kronos have four changing seasons. The most extreme adaptations from the Zuleus plant took place in this environment. Maplerium dynamicus evolved and created these lovely forests on Melea. The long leaves from Zuleus evolved into large, long (60 foot) woody branches and a thick trunk on Maplerium. Their branches spread out to enormous lengths, many up to 180 feet. A new leaf evolved that changes colors in response to the environmental conditions. These forests have hot summers and cold winters. Many consider this continent to be the most beautiful on Kronos.

Decidious Adaptations

Maplerium have special adaptations to survive. During the winter months, little liquid water is available to nourish the leaves of this plant. This causes photosynthesis to stop, the leaves to fall off, and the plant to become dormant. But don't worry, of course, the leaves grow back in the spring and photosynthesis begins all over again. As the seasons change, so do the colors of the leaves of the Maplerium. Deciduous means that these plants lose their leaves every year and grow them back. The trees near each other are in direct competition for sunlight and nutrients.

The Best Soil Conditions

In temperate deciduous forests, soil is usually relatively rich. This is because every fall, the trees drop the leaves that they grew the previous spring. This vast amount of organic material contributes to the "litter layer" on forest soils. The fallen leaves are a great food source for the fungi and bacteria in the soil. These creatures slowly help the leaves to decompose, and they are eventually turned back into soil which the trees can use to grow new leaves in future seasons, of course all this activity takes years to happen. The material at the top of the litter layer are the newly fallen leaves, branches and dead animals. Towards the bottom, the older leaves are covered with a slimy coating of microorganisms, due to decomposition.  You are probably thinking this is yucky, but this process is very important to returning nutrients to the soil and making Maplerium a successful land plant.