The spectral flower tides

One would think there’s not much to the flora of the depths. Inexistent light is an obstacle to most plant matter from the surface. Nevertheless, life in the abyss is nothing like the sunbathed surface and the mystical flora of these gloomy undergrounds somehow finds a way. Mushy mosses on the walls, luminous bulbs among the deepest tree roots, squishy algae in the streams, and the omniscient Physarum polycephalum are all spots of color in a blind world. But the most enchanting blossom that the sun has never seen has to be the spectral lily of the algific rifts. It has six phosphorescent petals of an untarnished clean white in two superposed semicircles under a central ovoid-shaped bulb. The bulb, also called the “originemium” in the ancient texts has a glassy appearance and shatters under too much light. This crystalline flower is held close to the ground by a dark stem with purple nuances on its oily surface. It is mentioned in the legends that there used to be an astonishing amount of lilies in the depths until the long silvers were brought from lands far beneath by a rise in the water tables. It seems that lilies are a delicacy to the silvers. This might even be the origin of their bioluminescence.
In recent years the long silvers have finally entered their dormant period and the delicate flowers are seen proliferating through the tunnels again. Enforcing the balanced and long-lasting equilibrium between the creepy crawlers and the crystalline sprouts.
Such is the tale of the spectral flower tides.


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