Tusovendis

Tusovendis
(Gounaphyl petiola)
Information
Creator	Coolsteph Other
Week/Generation	25/158
Habitat	Barlowe Tropical Rainforest
Size	40 cm Tall
Primary Mobility	Sessile
Support	Unknown
Diet	Photosynthesis
Respiration	Passive (Stomata)
Thermoregulation	Ectotherm
Reproduction	Sexual (Seeds, Airborne Spores), Asexual Budding
Taxonomy
Domain Kingdom Subkingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species	Eukaryota Phoenoplastida Phoenophyta Rhagioanthia Phoenopoopsida Phoenopoales Gounaphyllaceae Gounaphyl Gounaphyl petiola

Ancestor:	Descendants:
Tusovinda

Tusovendis have wide, stiff, relatively thick leaves with spiky margins. Herbivores must be careful when eating the leaves, for while the leaf margins aren't especially sharp, they can still prick the mouths of fauna. Both the leaves and the petioles (leaf stalks) are coated in a waterproof wax that contains bitter chemicals, chiefly naringin. The wax is important both for shedding water in its rainforest habitat and deterring herbivores. Its petioles grow closely together and are cemented with wax to form a functional trunk. It lacks a stem, and leaves grow from a growth point at the center of the root mass. It has shallow, magenta roots that grow in an expanding mat.

In the humid understory of the rainforest, there is no wind around to pollinate it. Instead, it relies on a species of xenobee, informally called the "sucker-ended xenobee" for the large, adhesive sucker on its hind end, which is formed by fused cloacal lips. The xenobee sticks onto the projecting lip of the flower, pokes its long snout into the flower, and collects spores on the hair surrounding its mouth. Seeds develop from papery, pea-shaped capsules, which are eventually dropped from the flower poles and germinate near the parent flora.

Tamchucks lack receptors of naringin. Consequently, tusovendis leaves aren't as bitter to them. However, they rarely eat tusovendis leaves, instead using them as nesting material.

Author's Notes

Unique grammar: the plural form is tusovendes.