Questions tagged [flora]
For questions related to plants and vegetation in general.
353
questions
2
votes
1answer
74 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
4answers
373 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 ...
5
votes
2answers
260 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
91 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, ...
2
votes
1answer
113 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 ...
6
votes
1answer
294 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 ...
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 ...
4
votes
2answers
128 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. ...
9
votes
2answers
786 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.
...
8
votes
2answers
705 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 ...
0
votes
1answer
59 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. ...
5
votes
1answer
85 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
130 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
258 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 ...
13
votes
8answers
431 views
Plausibility Check: Kite Trees?
Disclaimer: This question, unlike my other tree related question, was brought about by pure whimsical daydreaming. I also threw the term "evolve" around a lot, I should clarify that what I asking is ...
7
votes
6answers
608 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 (...
6
votes
4answers
590 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 ...
22
votes
9answers
3k 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 ...
39
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
7answers
398 views
Growing blue trees
What about the atmosphere of earth makes green the best color for plants, and what would have to change to make blue the best color? The fact that these changes could not happen on earth, an so would ...
11
votes
2answers
303 views
Plausibility Check: Territorial Trees?
Background
In case you haven't heard: there are places in the Amazonian Jungle called Devil's Gardens. The gardens are large swaths of land composed of almost entirely one single tree the Duroia ...
4
votes
1answer
119 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
146 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
416 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?
...
6
votes
4answers
897 views
Could Bamboos Evolve Into Trees In the Past?
This question is based on a scenario on DeviantArt. The presented image is here:
The description is as follows:
By the start of the Cryocene, bamboo has become one of Serina's most successful ...
4
votes
3answers
132 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 ...
14
votes
3answers
2k views
How big should a terrarium be to be self-sustained?
I read some time ago about terraria (singular: terrarium), which are basically small ecosystems of plants, isolated from the outside world (they get just energy from outside, not water or oxygen). The ...
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 ...
6
votes
3answers
170 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
7answers
907 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 ...
9
votes
6answers
304 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. ...
5
votes
2answers
155 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 ...
29
votes
8answers
5k views
How would trees communicate?
An alternate world is populated by mainly intelligent trees and other plants. These plants are almost exactly the same, biologically, as Earth's plants. The world's climate and geology are very ...
3
votes
2answers
190 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 ...
35
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
173 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
202 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
195 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
306 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 ...
6
votes
3answers
355 views
What is the botanic equivalent to ears?
As part of a series on plant animals, plantimals if you will, I am now asking about ears. All surface life has them or some sort of equivalent to them and with good reason. Other than sight, hearing ...
9
votes
2answers
212 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
124 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
4answers
539 views
What Would the Third Kind of Angiosperm Look Like?
To put this title into context, there are actually two basic kinds of angiosperms on Earth, showing here:
These differences in characteristics serve their own adaptations to survive and thrive.
Now ...
29
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 ...
12
votes
3answers
350 views
Symbiotic Assassin Vines
I have an idea for an encounter in my world that goes like this...
A weary group of adventurers are trekking through a great ancient forest. This forest is avoided by most due to strange tales of ...
15
votes
20answers
4k views
How to colonize this planet?
About 39 light years away is a lush, biodiverse planet, called Leena. It is the fourth planet from a yellow star. The planet is a prime target for human colonization, as probe bots have discovered ...
8
votes
2answers
884 views
Could Gymnosperms Develop Fruits and Flowers Like Angiosperms?
Here is the scenario: A Paleo/Mesozoic mass extinction wiped out 96% of all terrestrial species, and the only plants that survived were as follows:
One genus of conifer
One genus of cycad
One genus ...
5
votes
3answers
620 views
Would plants on a planet orbiting a star like ours, have any different color?
So I'm currently designing an alien habitable planet that orbits a star similar to our Sun. Assuming that the composition of the planet's atmosphere, as well as its pressure, are similar to the ones ...
0
votes
0answers
67 views
How long would it take a town to become overgrown? [duplicate]
So in my imaginary world, in the mid-to-late 2000s a lot of people die off. The reasons for this are unimportant, so I won't include them, but it has no impact on plant and animal life. So, ...
