Gross Anatomy of Red Plants by Malicious-Monkey on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

This is a highly simplified diagram of Ilion's red plants. The reason for this is to account for the high degree of morphological variation between species. With the exception of the heart, all structures shown are present in some form or another in every red plant.

Red plants evolved when a plicozoan animal became infected with a virulent form of allorosea algae. The animal's immune system eradicated the pathogen, but the damage was done. Some of the blood and skin cells were left with a plasmid - a remnant of the algae's genome that coded for the entire photosynthesis pathway. More importantly, perhaps, the plasmid had made its way into the germ cells. Due to a quirk in this particular species' reproduction, its haploid offspring inherited the plasmid but did not express the genes, but their diploid offspring did. This alternation of generations continued until it became the system seen today.

Red plants begin their lives as haploid larvae known as mobile fruits. The larvae are not photosynthetic, but some have retained the abilities of their plicozoan ancestors. That is, they can eat, drink, think, find a mate, and plant themselves in a suitible location. Their second stage of life is the diploid plant. The plant spends most of its time growing and acquiring nutrients until it is ready to bear fruit. Since there are no seasons on Ilion, some plants synchronize with windborne pheromones. Others simply produce year-round so there is always a mate to be found. Year-round strategists can avoid inbreeding by producing only one fruit at a time, or only fruits of one mating type at a time.

The ancestral red plants moved blood through their bodies with cilia-lined blood vessels. Naturally, this limited size quite a bit, so most plants have a pumping system. Cardiovascular systems are highly variant between plant species; in fact, hearts evolved more than once.

The bladder is a cavity derived from the plicozoan digestive system. It can be hollow, filled, open, or closed. Some plants use it for energy and water storage, others fill the bladder with air for buoyancy, and still others use it for its original purpose. The planted pot, for instance, traps and digests small animals in a soup of enzymes.

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