Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Vegetation and Agriculture of Attland

Isolated from the main continent,Attland's plants and animals have evolved into unique species to the point that some describe it as an alien paradise on Earth.

Endemic vegetation is characterized by:

  • few conifers
  • no grasses, the niche filled by the muell tree seedlings
  • great diversity of non-coniferous evergreen trees
  • great number of beech species, some similar to the New Zealand species
  • great number of mushroom, moss, and air plants
  • many evergreen trees are unique fern and horsetail species




The most notable agricultural plants and products of Attland are those that define the country's agriculture as a gourmet agriculture. These are:

  • The Balm and Iris Orchid, difloral plants unique to Attland, which produce mild mint, and lemon balm flavor vanilla
  • Coffee tree, a difloral tree
  • Muell (or Bauna), a difloral tree
  • Nectar Tree (a difloral Robinia), a source of hard wood, oil, and honey
  • Nectar lily, producing a unique flavor essence
  • Silkworm silk
  • Bush spider silk
  • aquaculture is centered on pearl oyster harvesting
The coffee and muell trees are pollinatable only in Attland, primarily by lilac bees, and hummingbirds. Muell tree can grow and reproduce only in Attland, requiring the presence of Attland's unique minerals.

The lilac bee and hummingbirds are the primary pollinators for vegetation of Attland.
  • Horsetail trees, over 20 feet tall and 1-2 feet diameter
  • Ginkgo tree
  • PehuĂ©n or Monkey-puzzle pine (up to 7 feet in diameter, 130-240 feet tall)
  • Tree ferns
  • Flower tree, related to cycads, gingo, and tree ferns, having wide, very large gingko-like planar leaves that form a disc-like crown; in cooler areas growing over almost 200 feet tall, and almost 30-40 feet in diameter
  • Hollow tree, a difloral tree, having horizontal branches, and a 50%-75% hollow trunk.
  • Vine tree, a difloral tree, some reaching over 350ft tall, developing twisting vine-like outer parts of a trunk, and with branched roots emerging above ground in older trees, capable of having a root underwater or in dark cave, the tree's leaves shaped as a butterfly
  • Cycad tree
  • Dragon and Socotra Dragon Tree subspecies growing in the same habitat
  • Wild tree, closely related to the Australian Wollemia nobilis This bizarre-looking tree was known only from 120 million-year-old fossil leaves before 1994; fewer than one hundred exist in the wild. They have strange bark that looks like bubbles of chocolate, multiple trunks, and ferny-looking leaves growing in spirals. They can grow up to 125 feet tall.

No comments: