Greater Cryofrond

The Greater Cryofrond has made the jump out of the micro world and into the macro one. Living in polar and temperate waters, its life cycle is dictated by the season. It will overwinter as spores in the substrate, which germinate in spring and will grow into a large singular "Steve"-shaped frond. It will grow throughout spring and summer, reaching full size at the onset of fall. At this time, it will begin to produce spores from structures along the frond's edge, which will fuse with other spores and settle into the substrate to lie dormant over winter. Mature Greater Cryofrond will lose their fronds come winter, but their anchors under the substrate will lie dormant and regrow a new frond next spring.

Large fields of Greater Cryofrond may be made through these anchors sending out multiple runners in all directions. It faces competition for space by Cryostud and thus is most commonly found in low-silicon environments, particularly very clay- and silt-like substrates. It has no use for silicon, so this partitioning is more for space rather than resources. It has allowed both the Cryostud and the Cryofrond’s descendants to occupy much the same niche in the same biomes, while not directly competing due to specializing in different variations within their biomes.