Austrostalk

Austrostalks are cold-favoring flora that have evolved to live in the taiga to avoid competition. They are quite dark in color, densely packed with photosynthetic pigment. This is to help them stay warm and to absorb the relatively small amount of light that reaches their habitat. They also produce a larger amount of sugars and collect salt from the soil, in order to further prevent them from freezing over. This feature is somewhat more prevalent in southern individuals than it is in northern ones. The main gamete-bearing structure has gained webbing in order to maximize surface area for gamete and seed production. This flora also now grows in visible segments, with each segment ending in a whorl of sharp leaves. Austrostalks bud their daughter stalks relatively close to the parent, forming large clusters or patches. This helps block wind as well as making the chances of catching gametes higher.