#plantae

[snototter]

A flowering coastal plain honeycombhead (Balduina angustifolia) in Gilchrist County, Florida, USA

by Alex Roukis

[mycoblogg]

Whats the difference between lichen, moss, mould and mushrooms if they're all fungus? Aren't they all the same sorta thing?

so, interestingly, all of these groups are very different !! instead of naming the differences, let me quickly explain what exactly these organisms are.

lichen :

lichens are symbiotic organisms, meaning they are in themselves the product of a relationship between different organisms. to simplify it, lichens are big part fungus, & smaller part algae (protista) or cyanobacteria (monera). these different forms of life together create lichen, which grows on trees, rocks, leaves, mosses & sometimes other lichens !! to read more about lichens, check out @/lichenaday's blog :-)

moss :

mosses are actually not fungi at all !! they are small, flowerless plants. they grow on trees & in soil. :-)

mould :

mould is a type of structure that fungi can form - it is entirely fungal. it reproduces through airborne spores :-) there are many different types of mould ; some are toxic, some are used medicinally, & some are saprotrophs. (note : slime moulds & water moulds are unrelated to fungal moulds !!)

mushrooms :

so, lots of people think mushrooms are a species of fungus, but they are not. "mushroom" refers to the fruiting body of a fungus ; what a mushroom is to a fungus is comparable to what a flower is to a tree - the part that reproduces !! not all fungi produce mushrooms (e.g. moulds, which do not have fruiting bodies as the entire organism is able to release spores). there are currently only 14 000 discovered fungi that produce mushrooms !! more fungi that don't produce mushrooms include mildew, yeast & lichen.

so, yes !! they're all quite different in structure, cells & function in the ecosystem.

[rattyexplores]

Beautiful button orchid growing on a palm tree.

17/01/24 - Dischidia nummularia

QLD:WET - Cairns

[neopianbiologyproject]

A Comprehensive Look at Neopian Apples

[-> Part 1 <-] [ Part 2A ] [ Part 2B ] [ Part 3 - coming soon ]

The Neopian Biology Project has identified >90 items with the word "Apple" in the name that are worth considering as species candidates.

Previously, I tried to categorize these items in roughly alphabetical order, but this time I've tried a new approach. Essentially, I made a few "buckets" that a candidate could fall into, and hoped that by correlating candidates to buckets, the trickier determinations could be made easier.

Because there are 90+ "apple" candidates, I won't be posting every single apple's information. However I will be linking their Jellyneo pages, and you can always find information relevant to the project on our spreadsheet.

First up:

Part 1: Apples that aren't apples

These are candidates that may qualify as distinct species, but are only referred to as "apple" colloquially, and are not actually apples.

These are:

Blue Ice Apple - From space; alien.

Imposter Apple [sic] - "That's no apple!" Possibly a common orange.

Flat Apple Fruit - Neither apple nor Flatfruit

Grapple - Not to be confused for the Grapple Apple.

Pearapple - Species of pear.

Triapple

Arnapple

Blackapple - See below.

Dewy Apple

Pineapple

Pyrapple - Possibly a pineapple. See below.

Many of these species make reference to tasting like an apple, which in these cases I have chosen to take as unironic comparisons rather than some joking "it tastes like an apple because it is an apple!" These specimens also all have un-apple-like (unapfellich) features that make them easy to consider them non-apples, at least morphologically.

The two exceptions/uncertainties are the Pyrapple and Blackapple.

The Pyrapple is not an apple, for certain, but may be a Pineapple. We'll either explore it in another post about Neopian Pineapples, or in its own post, but not here.

The Blackapple requires a closer look:

I hope the inside is not as black as the outside.

There isn't much to go off of here. This specimen is from Apple Bobbing, but if you take all the Apple Bobbing specimens together, this isn't a good indicator of apfellichkeit ("apple-ness"). Both non-apple and apple species are mixed up in Apple Bobbing, and some of the apple species are qualifying candidates while some are variants of other apples (we'll discuss this more in the next part).

The description is also very typical of Apple Bobbing and specimens from the Haunted Woods in general — that specific brand of Neopets humor that hints at something that should concern you, but won't tell you the full extent of the problem or how it occurred. This kind of description has influenced me greatly as a writer and is also the bane of my existence as a scientist.

The deciding factor for me here is that the Blackapple isn't a Black Apple, or a Blackened Apple as we'll see some of later. Blackapple is a new word, akin to the made-up "Triapple," "Arnapple," and "Pineapple" above. Because of this, I have been swayed to consider the Blackapple a unique, non-apple species.

Next up:

Part 2A: Apple cultivars ->

[lostdeviantartcollages]

vegetable I

[naturalist-journal]

[wikipediapictures]

Isolepis setacea

[kendraw]

Finally got around to revamping my oc, Aurum! He's… A terrible person :D;; haha He's one of my buddy @leeviathans's Plantae species, and he's also the father of one of Lee's characters as well! (tho said fella doesn't want anything to do with him- for good reason.) He's based on a golden delicious apple & a pitcher plant! The latter is a bit of a secret for most folks- since he doesn't broadcast that part of his lineage out in the open. I tried to sneak subtle nods to it in his design! ;)

[queenoffoliage]

Finished just in time for Halloween AAAAAA! Here's my plantae OC trio as classic horrors!

Venus as a venomous vampire, Wheatly as a wicked witch and Pudica as a powerful poltergeist! (..The alliteration theming was unintentional I only noticed as I typed it lol)

[augmentedpolls]

Ooooo, hi hi! I've got a poll! What's everyone's favorite kingdom? Not like a monarchy lol, but Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protista, Archaeabacteria, or (Eu)Bacteria! I really like Fungi! :D

[q2k]

a jester plantae! she's based off a night mistress flower!

[snototter]

An African corkwood tree (Musanga cecropioides) in Uganda

by Julien NKS

[indiegame]

some of my favorite japanese maples from today

[rattyexplores]

Moss growing on a old rope.

30/07/23 - Bryophyta sp. - farmland, near remnant

[k-botany]

Zebrina

Tradescantia sp L.

Fam: Commelinaceae

The wild beauty of Tradescantias, captured in my garden, in the forest, and on the street. 🌿🌸

[neopianbiologyproject]

Neopian Apples Part 2B: Apple Cultivars - Further Discussion

[ Part 1 ] [ Part 2A ] [-> Part 2B <-] [ Part 3... ]

So to finish off our discussion of "cultivars," we have a few apples to look at directly, marked in the last post for further examination.

Please read the last post for background on what our project considers "cultivar" to mean and the basic justification for these apples being included. Otherwise, let's hop in with the...

Cloud Shoyru Apple This Cloud Shoyru apple is only available if you have a Cloud Shoyru rare item code from Limited Too!

Ultimately there's not a ton to say here but I want to single out the Cloud Shoyru Apple for being a Rare Item Code/Exclusive item, because there's definitely more to discuss on those that I don't want to get into here. In short, there's a chance this apple is an alien species and doesn't occur naturally in Neopia; on the other hand, it could be naturally occurring but especially rare and worth doling out as a special prize.

There's also some debate as to whether this apple is painted or designed this way, but I think without any real evidence of that we should accept this apple as a new apple species.

Dopple Dapple Apple This apple is sure to be a sweet--... HEEEY, waitaminute!!!

This apple is a reference to the Dappled Apple:

Dappled Apple This apple is sure to be a sweet treat!

I'd say these are both certifiable species and I don't have much to say there about why or how. But I still want to comment on these because look, an example of mimicry between species! Some real ecology to delve into!

Based on the naming here, the Dopple Dapple Apple is a mimic of the Dappled Apple, (or at least the Dappled Apple was identified by Neopians before the discovery of the Dopple, but if we start doubting the names of things we're losing much of the foundation of any future conjectures). What is the purpose of this mimicry? How does it benefit the Dopple Dapple Apple? Does it benefit the Dappled Apple as well?

My hypothesis here is that the Dappled Apple, a notable "sweet treat," is popular with Neopians and thus often collected to be eaten (or bobbed for). This helps spread the Dappled's seeds and offspring, but can harm the Dappled population on the whole as the apples are taken from suitable land for their seeds to grow in and very often eaten. The Dopple Dapple Apple, by contrast, is not so sweet, but has developed a similar appearance to the Dappled, causing it to be mistaken for the Dappled by Neopians and also thus harvested. However, unlike the Dappled, the Dopple Dapple's seeds thrive in various habitats — possibly even specific conditions only reachable in this way, and possibly necessitating Neopian consumption, as is true for many Earth parasites.

In this way, the mimicry is reinforced, as Dappled-like Dopple Dapple Apples are more likely to be transported by a Neopian (and eaten, if that benefits the Dopple Dapple), and Dopple Dapple–like Dappled Apples are part of a larger "basket" and less likely to be individually selected for the same transportation and consumption.

Wow! Maybe!

All that aside, the description of the Dopple Dapple Apple also falls under a theme that will be echoed more clearly in later specimens: many Neopian apples are potentially a little bit sentient? I can't help but read into this description as the writer having been fooled by an intentional being, an apple with wants and intents not normally ascribed to passive fruit. It's definitely the case with other apples; maybe there's a low-level consciousness in them all.

Mutant Apple This apple probably wouldnt keep the doctor away!

Mutant as a genre of Neopian specimen is honestly a bit of a stumbling block in this project. On one hand, any Neopian can become Mutant at any point in their life — including, possibly, reviously non-living items like scissors, if we take "Mutated" to be synonymous with "Mutant."

I think we can at least draw a distinction between Mutant as the result of a potion and Mutant as the result of a, well, mutation. One is ostensibly a Paint Brush color — can be attained at any point in a Neopet's life and is thus not a genetic change substantial enough for a distinction of species — and one is as a result of direct genetic shifts in a species that may be carried to further offspring. The fact that new species arise at all is a result of genetic mutations.

Most mutations are unremarkable or even deleterious; the offspring bearing these mutations are not significantly different from their brethren, or the mutation is harmful to the creature's chances at life and therein to its chances of bearing children that will carry on the mutation.

However in Neopia, "mutant" is a class of being that has startlingly apparent traits, often complete changes in complexion as well as extra limbs and whole new organs and other apparatuses. This is even outside of mutations as a result of transmogrification, though the overall "mutant" traits are shared with the species there. Mutants share more in common with one another than they tend to with their parent species. This may be a result of colloquial naming conventions — unimpressive mutations go unnoticed or unrecognized as "mutations" and only the clearly identifiable mutants get called "mutant." It's impossible to say, either, whether mutant Neopets may have been recognized first, leading to later species being named "mutants" in reference to them.

For our project, we have to consider whether a mutant of a species is a new species. In the case of this apple, we can observe it is apparently very common in the Haunted Woods. We don't know whether this is because it is common for large genetic changes to happen between generations of apple, whether it is uncommon but these changes have been lasting in the genetic pool after the initial mutation, or whether these apples are reproducing at all and if in fact this is a mutation occurring repeatedly many times within baseline apple populations.

Unfortunately I think my stance on this apple has changed, however — no matter the case with the origins of the mutation or mutant apples, it is unlikely that this mutation makes the Mutant Apple genetically distinct from baseline apples, or that the Mutant Apple is reproductive enough to be considered a species. We simply don't know enough to declare this a new distinct species and the evidence is leading me to believe we should declare it a duplicate until proven otherwise. I am unsure whether this holds for all "Mutant" variants across other species, though, and interested in being swayed otherwise.

Rainbow Apple These are picked fresh from the Rainbow Tree... we think.

The Rainbow Apple would be otherwise unremarkable (I mean, I guess I could choose to get into whether it was painted Rainbow or grown this way, but I don't want to do that for every Rainbow or other Paint Brush-similar item) except for its description's mention of a "Rainbow Tree."

What is the Rainbow Tree? Why is this the only mention of it anywhere? How is it so known as to be referred to as "the" Rainbow Tree, but not such a landmark in Neopia to have any other references to it? What heavy lifting is "we think" doing here? Is the Rainbow Tree fictional? Magical? Legendary? Am I just forgetting key Neopian lore? Is it a joke?

All we can say is Rainbow Apple is a specimen of the Rainbow Tree species (as all apples are mere specimens of the plants that bore them, though this fact has been glossed over thus far.)

What a huge curveball in this project. What a mystery to have such meager clues for. This project will take forever, plus the time it takes to solve the Rainbow Tree.

Speckled Apple It looks an awful lot like a normal apple.

It's not!

But worth sussing that out — sometimes this kind of note in the description makes me think twice about a "new" species. But here I have no reason to, I don't think. If it were a "normal" apple, there would be no reason to have this item with this description. Sometimes the writer on these just didn't have more to say.

This does also add some detail to what Neopians (or, TNT) consider a "normal" apple. It is red, shiny, does not have speckles. Gotcha.

FINALLY this is done — see you next time in Part 3, "Apples with Hobbies" (coming soon)