Spitfire Weed

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Spitfire Weed
(Pyrovolitís pakkun)
Main image of Spitfire Weed
Species is extant.
Information
CreatorHethrJarrod Other
Week/Generation27/167
HabitatBarlowe Tropical Rainforest, Barlowe Subtropical Rainforest, Barlowe Temperate Rainforest, Time Subtropical Rainforest Archipelago, Abello Temperate Rainforest Archipelago, Ittiz Temperate Rainforest Archipelago, Lamarck Temperate Rainforest, Lamarck Subtropical Rainforest, Clayren Temperate Rainforest Archipelago, Sagan 4 Troposphere
Size30 cm tall
Primary MobilitySessile
SupportUnknown
DietPhotosynthesis
RespirationPassive (Stomata)
ThermoregulationEctotherm
ReproductionSexual (Seeds, Airborne Spores), Asexual Budding
Taxonomy
Domain
Kingdom
Subkingdom
Division
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
Eukaryota
Phoenoplastida
Phoenophyta (info)
Rhagioanthia
Phoenopoopsida
Phoenopoales
Gounaphyllaceae
Pyrovolitís
Pyrovolitís pakkun
Ancestor:Descendants:

The spitfire weed split from its ancestor. The spitfire weed is very much like its ancestor, tusovinda, with wide thick leaves with a waxy appearance. Flower poles rise from the center with an appearance of a mouth with a red tongue. Also like its ancestor it pollinates via the wind.

The main difference between spitfire weed and flora like it, is its defensive mechanism. This mechanism originally evolved in its distant ancestor, the polarblades, from glands that produced toxic chemicals, like naringin. Its leaves would slowly exude this toxic substance over time as a wax. The wax is important both for shedding water in its rainforest habitat and deterring herbivores. In the spitfire weed, the flora can eject the contents of these chambers. When disturbed or threatened, the flower poles will eject a noxious mixture of hydrogen peroxide and hydroquinone. When these chemicals mix with peroxidase enzymes that the flower produces, an incredibly exothermic reaction occurs. The heat from the reaction can bring the chemical mixture to the boiling point of water. The hot chemical mixture is ejected out of the flower, typically at a predator, and is usually enough to frighten them away.

The spitfire weed has enough chemicals to spray a predator twenty times, which has a chance of killing their would-be attacker. Spitfire weed is immune to the harmful effects of the chemical because of a unique wax their leaves produce, but it is also detrimental to nearby flora in the area. Because of this, spitfire weed are often found by themselves in a 3 ft radius or with other spitfire weeds.