Lichen Tree

The Lichen Tree is a medium-sized, treelike form of lichen from the Northern Forest on Earth, and the Northern Forests on the Wierd N’ Wild Planet.

Facts
Only a handful of specialized non-conifer species of vegetation are able to survive the wet conditions of the Northern Forests. Flowering Plants are just as common as the flowering plants on earth are, but the Northern Forests’ Lichen are, well, Lichen Trees.

Normal lichens on earth are small, low-growing, composite, symbiotic organisms. In the widespread atmosphere of the Northern Forests, they are instead sturdy, treelike forms, growing up to 3 meters high. In the lichen’s place, Lichen Trees have robust trunks built up from dead fungal fibers laid down in the core. The understory of the Northern Forests is a tangle of such lichen trees. They achieve photosynthesis and absorb moisture by trailing feathery algal structures that hang like tattered curtains in the humid air. Spore sacs contain assemblages of both lichen and fungal spores, which explode on contact. The dispersal of these spores is aided by animals as they brush past the lichens, bursting the spore sacs as they go.

On this planet, Black-Eared Weaselcats and Slithersuckers have a symbiotic relationship with lichen trees in that nutrients from the Slithersucker’s meal and the fact that Lichen Trees will let Weaselcats make their homes on them will nourish the tree itself.

Lichen trees grow diamond-shaped fruit called Lichen Fruits which are favoured by many animals of the forest, such as Bearded Gorilla Cats.

Mayhem of the Northern Forests, Part 2
A Lichen Tree appeared as a Black-Eared Weaselcat’s home. When the Weaselcat just came back from catching a Trevel from a nearby normal tree. The Weaselcat saw a Lichen Fruit on a branch and he flipped upside down hanging, grabbed the fruit, and flinged back up, getting ready to eat it. But a Broadbeak flew in on the branch and fought the Weaselcat for the fruit.

But, the fruit slipped out of the cat’s hands and landed on a Slithersucker. The Broadbeak tried to carry it away, but it was stuck to the slime, and he got tired. He also got stuck on the slime and got devoured by the Slithersucker. The cat then hid in his home from a pair of Pamthrets.