Questions tagged [flora]
For questions related to plants and vegetation in general.
364
questions
3
votes
4answers
133 views
Would 5 years be long enough for a small society to start producing a surplus of food?
Would a community of around 300 people be able to start producing plentiful food in ~5 years post a civil war and plague?
They were an isolated quite wealthy community, in a sub-tropical area, mainly ...
5
votes
2answers
113 views
Tall trees : atmospheric pressure
In my previous post, I asked about how tall trees could grow in my world. To be honest, I really need those trees to be huge for my storie, because a big part of the plot will be linked to those big ...
4
votes
0answers
55 views
How much energy do plants produce?
Consider a magic system that follows the Eragon model; "doing it by magic takes just as much (biological) energy as doing it the mundane way".
In Eragon, magical energy can be drawn from other living ...
1
vote
1answer
83 views
How tall would animals, trees and “humans” grow on a planet with those characteristics?
I am working on a planet were life (trees, plants, food, animals, humans) would be bigger/taller than Earth. I have learned that oxygen level or gravity, for example, could help change the size of ...
6
votes
2answers
161 views
Hanging World - Trees
Scenario
A civilization is living on an ancient super structure, they don't know much about it, they just live there and have lived there for as long as they know. For our current situation we can ...
5
votes
3answers
95 views
Designing flora: placing herbs
So I have noticed that most herbs come from the Mediterranean as confirmed by this site and those that do not often come from either actual Mediterranean climates or somewhat arid ones.
So my ...
2
votes
3answers
149 views
Another Giant Tree Attempt
I want to propose a new method for tree growth to exceed the max of 120 or 130 meters restricted by Earth's gravity. I propose for the tree to rely very little on its base or roots. The living part of ...
6
votes
1answer
78 views
Environment/Ecosystem for a “Sunfall” colony
I've read a lot of posts about moons around large gas giants and I think I have fairly good idea about basics to them. I'm not super great with all the science parts myself but they give me lots of ...
2
votes
0answers
51 views
The Marine Jungle of More Than Just Angiosperms [closed]
Recently, I asked whether or not the other plant groups besides the angiosperms could evolve to adapt to being submerged under salty ocean water 24/7. While marine conifers, ginkgoes, cycads, ferns, ...
6
votes
5answers
228 views
What would the flora and fauna be like on a planet with the most competition? The most violent planet
My setting has a lush rainforest planet, which houses some of the most feared animals in the galaxy. The abundance of food would make competition tougher and tougher over millions of years of ...
5
votes
3answers
83 views
Recreating Dinosaurs (or at least doppelgangers)
In theory organisms derived from birds through genetic engineering could resemble theropod dinosaurs. So my question is what animals would serve as the basis for the other two groups of dinosaurs (...
1
vote
0answers
83 views
De-Extinction Candidates [closed]
I know the classic deextinction candidates such as the passenger pigeon or wooly mammoth. What other animals do we have the potential to revive? Are there any odd candidates such as other mastodons or ...
7
votes
1answer
72 views
Could a Greater Number and Diversity of Marine Plant Species be Possible?
As landlubbers, we often let ourselves think that if salty seawater is undrinkable for us, it could be even worse for plants. However, certain types of angiosperms have found ways to not only thrive ...
2
votes
1answer
83 views
A desert planet with temperate polar regions could sustain how much plant-life? Any?
One proposed type of desert planet is one in which the equator and the "tropics" are harsh, hot deserts, but the polar regions are temperate, habitable, and lush with life.
You can see an example of ...
5
votes
2answers
267 views
Electrosynthetic Autotrophs
Photosynthesis has an abysmal efficiency with regards to converting solar energy into useful fuel for a plant, and I was wondering:
1) If it would be possible to engineer a plant to accept electrical ...
8
votes
1answer
101 views
What color would plants orbiting a white dwarf have?
So, let's say there's a white dwarf star that has recently been born (by recently, let's say about 3 million years ago) Now around that time, a rogue planet, about the same size and mass as earth, ...
5
votes
4answers
383 views
We Have Successfully Established Plants and Insects on Mars. How Long Will It Take Them to Colonize the Entire Planet?
In my last question, I have asked on how, once Mars has been terraformed, Terran species of plants and the insects on which the majority of them rely on would adapt to Mars's longer year. By far, the ...
2
votes
1answer
116 views
How Can Plants and Insects Cope With Living on a Terraformed Mars?
If we humans are serious about terraforming our famous neighbor, Mars, then the terraforming process would take thousands of years before it becomes habitable enough for humans to live in. But that ...
4
votes
2answers
136 views
How could a plant harness kinetic energy?
This post about a tidally-locked planet got me thinking about plants and wind.
Let's say plants evolve on a perpetually windy, tidally-locked earth-like planet around a sun-like star at about 1 AU. ...
30
votes
9answers
6k views
Can there be plants on the dark side of a tidally locked world?
In my story, there is an Earth-sized planet orbiting a red dwarf, tidally locked to its parent star, with large oceans like Earth, two moons similar to ours and a thick atmosphere to distribute heat ...
6
votes
1answer
315 views
What would a silicone-based plant, especially a tree, look like?
This question's information is based on the answer in my previous question about what the aquatic creature need in order to live or survive in my acid water?
The thing that's not in the description ...
9
votes
2answers
794 views
Alternative to Magnesium's Role in Photosynthesis
It is a known fact that magnesium is a very important part of photosynthesis and chlorophyll. I have looked everywhere to try to find out this question but I have never really gotten a solid answer.
...
0
votes
1answer
67 views
What kind of society would a species of autotrophic plants create? [closed]
The setting includes both magic and 21st century technology. The species in question are non-sessile, sentient and sapient trees, and has evolved that way due to the threat of a xylophagous predator. ...
8
votes
2answers
709 views
Can a giant mushroom be used as a material to build watercraft or sailing ships?
The basis for this question is the selected answer for Plausibility of Mushroom Buildings. Prototaxites and braket fungus are the likely candidates but I want to know if this type of fungis can float ...
5
votes
1answer
92 views
Terraforming a tide-locked planet
Over several hundred years, a tide-locked, but otherwise Earth-like, planet orbiting a red dwarf is terraformed. The terminator is a very habitable zone, in terms of temperature, atmosphere, etc. ...
2
votes
2answers
134 views
GMO Agriculture - Medieval farming with modern day seeds and advanced robots, how hard or how easy could it be to be rich using them?
Let's just say that you are stuck in a different world. You found a biological research and production starship wreck...
You decided to have GMO plants/seeds agriculture on your land that you bought ...
6
votes
3answers
270 views
How impossible would a bioluminescent plant-based lifeform be?
Looking for alternative sources of lighting for my current worldbuilding project so I couldn't help but wonder if a bioluminescent plant-based lifeforms could be realistically feasible. I'm just ...
6
votes
4answers
597 views
Planting Trees in Outer Space
Say a group of people travel to a different planet where they have to wear spacesuits to live (because there's no oxygen and because of the atmosphere's density).
What would happen if they planted ...
7
votes
6answers
620 views
World with dodecahedron-shaped trees
Premise
I was inspired by Karl Niklas who used computer modeling to simulate the ideal structure for a tree when different traits were favored. Here is a chart summarizing his work:
Explanation
L (...
25
votes
9answers
4k views
How to check what is edible on an alien world? [duplicate]
You've landed on another planet. There are some forms of plants and animals on this world but how do you know what is safe to eat?
Obviously we went through this on earth, finding the right berries ...
40
votes
24answers
8k views
Why can't my huge trees be chopped down?
In my world there is a forest of huge trees which people can't or won't chop down. The trees are similar to redwood trees but they have a large crown and no lower branches. The forest is quite dark ...
4
votes
1answer
120 views
Questions about sick trees in wood
I want to write a piece of fiction about a female tree caretaker who researches a small group of beeches in a wood.
When she arrives, she sees that the trees are dried out. Is it realistic to say ...
9
votes
1answer
156 views
What plant colours other than black could be available on a red dwarf planet?
Hello! I'm no scientist so I've reached the limit of my knowledge. I was wondering if any of you smart beans out there would be able to help me figure this out? Here are the specs of my system;
...
9
votes
3answers
444 views
Is it possible to farm in a swamp?
In my world they live in a swamp similar to the Okeefenokee swamp in Georgia. My question is, would it be possible to farm certain plants like wild rice, milkweed, and lilypads in these conditions?
...
4
votes
3answers
136 views
Ice Dome Greenhouse
I have an icy planet with temperatures that average about -100 degrees Fahrenheit (-73,3 °C). The planet also has thousands if not millions of domes scattered across its completely icy surface heated ...
6
votes
3answers
177 views
A parasitic apple tree?
Could there arise naturally a plant that like mistletoe attaches itself parasitically to an oak tree that can interbreed with a regular apple tree, and produce fruit that are very similar to apples?
3
votes
4answers
3k views
If a world had a massive single giant world tree could it stop an earthquake?
You know stuff like Yggdrasil tree but just a normal tree that is the biggest and tallest in the world. If the roots grow to surpass the continental and oceanic plate either it only cover some parts ...
3
votes
7answers
925 views
How could a tree survive a volcanic blast?
Background
I am working on a Role Play Video game, and I have a particular island called Morogar in my medieval fantasy. (Magic and Mythical Beasts run wild). Originally an island with forests and a ...
5
votes
2answers
156 views
Seasonal Shade-Plant
There is a forest in my world with a special property: All the trees are optimised to shade as much as possible during summer and give as little shadow as possible during winter, to regulate the ...
3
votes
2answers
195 views
Would advanced Plantoids be plausible? [closed]
Could it be plausible that if enough time given and favorable conditions are met, the dominant species of an alien planet could be a species of plant and by dominant I mean achieving sentience and ...
37
votes
10answers
5k views
Anatomically Correct Carnivorous Tree
How might a carnivorous tree look or work?
The following conditions must be met:
Consumes members of the biological kingdom 'Animalia'
Possesses something resembling a trunk or stem of any kind
...
4
votes
2answers
179 views
Could a tree evolve to have vastly varying shades?
I was wondering whether it would be feasible to have a tree that at times may have light green, at other times dark green leaves.
Why would a tree evolve to change the shade of its leaves?
Yes, I am ...
3
votes
4answers
205 views
Could a tree build its bark out of Starlite-like material?
How could trees in an environment with 23% Oxygen (The atmosphere is identical to earth in all other respects.) grow bark with Starlite-like qualities?
Starlite is a material claimed to be able to ...
2
votes
3answers
200 views
Fireproof liquids that are non-toxic to carbon based life?
What sort of fireproof liquid could be used by carbon-based life without causing harm to the organism? Whether it be absorbed from exterior sources or produced in the organism's body. I say organism ...
27
votes
8answers
7k views
Would glacier 'trees' be plausible?
The setting is in a region of a planet comparable to Earth's California in regards to location. The soil is extremely rich in nutrients and subsurface water. But for the past three million years the ...
11
votes
3answers
307 views
Plants accidentally exposed to vacuum of space - Will the settlers save them on time?
A newly-built base on the moon has the first two compartments of a pressurized greenhouse farm. An airlock system automatically seals one compartment off the others when pressure sensors indicate a ...
9
votes
2answers
224 views
Plants That Use Chitin in Place of Lignin
What would the appearance and structure of trees be like if they used chitin, instead of lignin, for cell walls? This is assuming that all other properties are basically unchanged.
These trees would ...
4
votes
3answers
130 views
Modern Landscape Lacking Wood Decomposers
What would a modern landscape look like with the absence of lignin decomposing fungi, bacteria, and etc.
What I mean is...would a forested area just become filled with fallen trees instead of a more ...
9
votes
6answers
328 views
What light would my cloudy planet receive from a red dwarf star?
What light spectrum would hit the surface of a planet orbiting a red dwarf star?
The planet is a humid greenhouse with a cloudy atmosphere and a strong ozone layer. Over 80% of the surface is water. ...
30
votes
5answers
4k views
Plausibility of Mushroom Buildings
How plausible would buildings made inside of, or made using, giant mushrooms be?
Copyright Raphael Lacoste 2018
A staple of the fantasy genre, mushrooms have commonly been seen as magical and ...
