Chromoroot

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Chromoroot.png

Extinct.png

Taxonomy
Ancestors and Descendants
Ancestor: Neakroot

The Chromoroot is a direct descendant of the Neakroot. Unlike other descendants, it has independently adapted to arid environments by unusual means; the Chromoroot can change color and surface texture at will. It's dynamic changes allow it to adjust the water absorbancy and reflectivity for it's surface, while the thick thallus can photosynthesize UV light and the normal spectrum. Typically a generic orange color, it flashes bright green upon the advent of rain, and turns pink-grey after the sun sets. It's changing surface area often is covered with tiny tubercles to capture dust from the air- as it cannot extract much nutrients from the sand below it. The color shades sometimes darken or lighten in order to ensure heat loss or retention.

Growing out of the bare sand, it has few competitors and is beyond the reach of most herbivores, and many individuals will live for several thousand years. Their growth rate- although slow- does not have a limit as to size reached. Their deep root system serves primarily for water absorption and anchorage, while the overground thallus serves many purposes. Reproduction is achieved by wind-borne twig-like segments that grow from the central stem and disperse across the desert wastes.

One interesting adaptation to enable the color-changing capabilities of the Chromoroot is the development of small, light-sensitive structures across the thallus that act together with small pores as to allow identification of incoming light, somewhat convergent with the light-sensitive areas of archaic animals.