HoA's Nightmare

The floral landscape of Apterra's first few centuries, in the places that had plant life at all, was stunningly homogeneous. Endless fields of turfgrass stretched to the horizon in every direction. It was a perfect lawn, free of weeds, trees, colorful flowers, or any other plants at all. This uniform prairie would remain unchanged for many generations. It grew, set seed, was occasionally nibbled on by rats, burnt to the ground in a massive wildfire, sprouted again, was wiped out by a fungal blight, was decomposed by pill bugs, sprouted once more, was pollinated by a gust of wind, had its seeds eaten by a passing kiwi…

And so the cycle went, unchanging over the lifespan of even the luckiest kiwi or crested gecko. Those living now are, of course, unaware that they bear witness to the beginnings of massive changes to come. Grasses now grow up to two meters high in places. Other varieties have increased the size of their grains by a factor of ten, while a different group has shrunk its seeds to such a minuscule size that they can ride the wind for miles. Rapid evolution has taken hold of Apterra’s plants just as strongly as its animals.

In the tropics of eastern Loxodia live as many as twenty-five distinct forms, each occupying its own place in the ecosystem. Towering reed-like grasses make up the overstory. This is quite a pitiful canopy, but compared to other Apterran flora, they may as well be giant sequoias. In their shadows, understory plants fight to avoid the fungi that plague these moist environments. Being descended from temperate prairie grasses, they have little defense against tropical pathogens. Instead, many make use of the isopods that clamber across the forest floor. 

Certain tropical grass varieties now secrete a sweet nectar from their stems, attracting small swarms of pill bugs. After consuming this sugary treat, they then turn their attention to clumps of mold growing amongst the blades. By cleaning the grass of diseases, they ensure their food source will remain stable in the future. This mutualism will expand greatly in future species, but the current arrangement works well enough for now; the jungles become more diverse with each passing millennium, inching closer and closer to a true forest ecosystem.

To the west lies a massive desert, the largest dry region anywhere on Apterra. Grasses here have taken the opposite route, adapting to life without water for most of the year. This region is prone to going up to a decade with no rain, then suddenly receiving immense downpours as the winds blow at just the right angle to carry moisture inland from the seas between Abeli and Loxodia. During these wet spells, which last no more than half a year, grasses grow at incredible density, briefly surpassing even the tropics because, unlike those in the jungle, these plants need not worry about establishing permanent root systems. Instead, they focus their entire energy on growing towards the desert sun. The rains soon end, often without warning, and the desert grasses once again have a singular purpose: to produce a gargantuan crop of seeds.

High winds continue for a few days following the departure of the rains, carrying with them a cloud of pollen many miles tall and wide. This storm is one that animals desperately avoid being caught in - the jagged pollen grains are as abrasive as the sand blowing alongside them. Not long after the winds die down, every stalk of grass produces a massive panicle, often bearing tens of thousands of seeds apiece. These drop from their parent plants, landing on the now-dry ground below. Sufficiently small and lightweight seeds may be carried a modest distance by the last heavy gusts that blow across the desert, while larger ones are simply buried as sand and dust particles are deposited on top of them. 

The dry air desiccates the once-vibrant grasses over the following weeks. One by one, they collapse, their purpose completed. There are no long-lived desert plants yet, for none are capable of surviving a sustained drought. This strategy suits them well, though, and it serves the local herbivore population even better.