| rdfs:comment | - The Plaque-bark Trees are the largest floral organisms on planet Darwin IV. These towering trees have regular side branches and sparse leaves, and grow on the scarce pocket forests located near small streams and rivers, the only bodies of liquid water that can be found on Darwin IV. Their striker-nuts produce a sound similar to those made by xylophones. Dwarf plaque-barks have also been discovered. These trees are home to the parasitic Trunk-Suckers, which feed on the tree's nourishing sap; and the predatory Daggerwrists, which prey on Trunk-Suckers.
- Plaque-bark trees are usually found making up the majority of flora in the pocket forests. Often heard in the pocket forests are the delicate xylophone tones of thousands of striker-nuts, the bell-like seeds of the plaque-bark tree. Each of these is formed with two small bark strikers that beat upon its shell, eventually loosening the nut and sending it to the forest floor. The sound of these nuts is like some beautiful arboreal symphony.
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| abstract | - Plaque-bark trees are usually found making up the majority of flora in the pocket forests. Often heard in the pocket forests are the delicate xylophone tones of thousands of striker-nuts, the bell-like seeds of the plaque-bark tree. Each of these is formed with two small bark strikers that beat upon its shell, eventually loosening the nut and sending it to the forest floor. The sound of these nuts is like some beautiful arboreal symphony. Many other organisms live in and/or on the trees. These include jetdarters, hook-tailed flyers, floatballs, trunk-suckers (which feed on the sap), and daggerwrists. At times, groves of young plaque-bark trees can be seen growing out of a keeled grove-back's dorsal carapace. At first this was speculated that this might be some kind of protective adaptation that enables it to hide; this seems unlikely, though, given the creature's bulk. It was later learned that once the keeled grove-back reaches this size and age it has no true enemies and does not fear predation. The trees on a grove-back's back crack and rustle with each ponderous, lurching footfall, while the enormous skid turns the ground with a clatter of upturned boulders. The noise of the animal's passage is substantial. A nesting grove-back will be submerged in a pit and grown over with underbrush and small trees. It looks like nothing more than a small, tree-covered hill. Based on the growth of the trees, it is estimated that the animal has been buried and immobile for at least 10 years. It turns out that the animal is hibernating. During the course of its prolonged stasis, smaller creatures, as well as plants, accumulate on the behemoth's porous dorsal shell. Five days after laying its eggs, the keeled grove-back rises shakily amidst a great cloud of debris and soil. Its stiffened legs, trembling under the immense, forgotten weight, tentatively take their first steps in more than 10 years. The tangled forest on the creature's back shakes like reeds in the wind as it moves forward.
- The Plaque-bark Trees are the largest floral organisms on planet Darwin IV. These towering trees have regular side branches and sparse leaves, and grow on the scarce pocket forests located near small streams and rivers, the only bodies of liquid water that can be found on Darwin IV. Their striker-nuts produce a sound similar to those made by xylophones. Dwarf plaque-barks have also been discovered. These trees are home to the parasitic Trunk-Suckers, which feed on the tree's nourishing sap; and the predatory Daggerwrists, which prey on Trunk-Suckers.
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