Plants & Vegetation

Most native plants on Calypso are very similar to those on earth because they use photosynthesis, which means that carbohydrates are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water using light as the energy source. This process usually releases oxygen as a byproduct and in this case it helped make Calypso a very well suited world for humans, who need an oxygen atmosphereto breath.

However, before the Odysseus Probe landed, the first robots on the surface reported that the climate and atmosphere was slightly different from what it is today, with a lot more plant and animal species. Not all of these life forms survived the slow terraformation of the planet, when the robot machines begun to change the climate and atmosphere to create a new, stable, and more suitable environment for the first human arrivals.

Despite this alteration, life recovered very quickly on Calypso, nursing a new breed of plant and animal species, well adapted to the new environment. Indeed, some plants were probably not effected at all by this change. There are still many plants on Calypso, some of which can be very strange and even dangerous, that rely on other food sources to sustain themselves. Even so most of the plants are harmless and can be both as strange as they can be beautiful.

When the first settlers did arrive, they were awestruck when the saw this world and named the first sector of the colony 'New Eden'.

These first human settlers also brought with them various plants from Earth, which were used to create gardens called 'Eden's of Earth' within the urban communities - the colony citadels. The gardens were meant as resorts and agricultural greenhouses to make the settlers feel more at ease and to help them adapt gradually to their new home and environment on an alien world. However, after the robot war these plants quickly spread outside these previously confined gardens.

As a result most plants and trees inside the colonies and around the urban zones consists of a genetically designed flora based on old earth species, species that are more commonly referred to as hybrids. Genetically well adapted to the new environment, these hybrid plants have flourished and pushed aside the natural flora where they grow. However, the inserted plant life has never spread too far out from the human areas and is currently being held at bay by the native plant life, which continues to remain the dominant form of life on the planet.

Native vegetation

Arx

At first glance this tree looks like several separate trees but is not. The core tree has a very complex root system, which surfaces around the core in a circular formation, creating several high and dense shield-shaped trunks as a means of protection.

The core itself is also covered in these shield-shaped trunks and it has most likely developed this to protect its softer and more vulnerable interior from giant herbivores; this is why it's sometimes referred to as the Shield Tree.

The Arx can be found in most forests and is used by many smaller animals as a hiding placefrom predators. In turn these animals provide the tree with plenty of natural fertilization.

Astralis Arboreus

This is a large tree with a top consisting of four very large and bright green leafs. The base of the trunk is very wide and richly colorful on the older trees.

The strange shape, color and pure splendor have deemed it one of the most beautiful trees on Calypso causing it to be more commonly referred to as the Star Tree.

Cresco Crystals

These are not organic plants but are known as trees because of their growth cycle. They are in fact defined as crude mineral life forms.

The "roots" of the crystal are made up of rare mineral compounds that react with water and certain other substances causing them to expand up through the surface. After further contact with oxygen and sunlight, long pointed crystal shapes are formed.

As the "roots" stop expanding, the crystal tree - which can no longer be sustained - disintegrates, losing its color and transparency. Its remains filter down through the earth with water and seem to provide the basic mineral nutrients that allow new "roots" to grow.

This is why they're more commonly called Crystal Trees - because of their noticeable lifecycle. The crystals themselves are very common. Their unstable compositions however cause rapid deterioration when removed, making them worthless as excavation minerals.

Fungusilva

This tree looks like a giant mushroom and most people simply like to refer to it as the Mushroom Tree. These large trees grow in humid conditions, preferably near swamps and other types of flooded vegetation.

It has developed a poison to prevent herbivores from feeding on its soft interior but some native animals have developed immunity to it and are using it to make themselves poisonous, thereby protecting themselves against predators.

Migrufolium

This tree has a small circular top of leaves that span out from its top branches, almost like membranes.

When the tree has grown big enough the lower part of the trunk becomes swollen. During this period it also develops more and longer thorns in an attempt to protect itself from large herbivores.

Numaki

This tree looks like a fallen tree-trunk standing on several legs that are actually its roots. The tree filters water both ways through its massive trunk, which is kept raised above the ground and preferably across large bodies of water.

This tree, which is also known as the bog-tree, can be found in swamps, marshlands and other moist areas that are held in dense mist.

Its strange shape allows it to be used as a natural bridge to cross muddy rivers and other treacherous terrain.

Velumbra

This desert tree has several large sail-shaped leaves. These leaves areextended in the evening and retracted in the morning.

During the night the sail-shaped leaves pick up condensed drops of water, which then roll down the branches, to the trunk where they're collected.

These sails are retracted during the day when the branches holding them are pulled back into parallel position with the trunk.

Venor Traba

This flesh-eating plant also resembles a fallen tree trunk. Its name means Hunting Trunk but its strange shape has given it the more common nickname "Killer Cucumber".

As a plant it's immobile and has to wait patiently for prey to pass its mouth. It captures its prey with a long tentacle tongue and then pulls it into its mouth. The spiky mouth then shuts and the prey is devoured. It has long, spiky and poisonous thorns over its thick armor, which function as powerful deterrents to any larger beasts that could eat or crush it.

The plant responds to the scent of an animal in defining its prey so humans and other larger creatures are generally not attacked.

Hybrid vegetation

Belm

This tree is based on a species from Earth called the elm and the beech. It's quite a large tree with a smooth trunk and thick upright branches giving it a seemingly flat top. Its lifespan is estimated to reach up to 500 Earth years.

Masple

This tree is based on species from Earth called the maple and aspen.

The tree is of an average size and has a smooth trunk. Its top is uneven and somewhat scattered and it has reddish leafs with pointy edges.

It's likely to have a lifespan of about 200 Earth years.

Firlock

This tree is based on a species of trees from Earth called fir trees, two old breeds called the spruce and the hemlock.

These trees have long rows of needles instead of leafs and the needles are attached directly to the branches. Its top is narrow and cone-shaped with all its branches hanging down from the straight trunk.

There are two known types of hybrid fir trees on Calypso, one blue, which has jagged branches and one green with a more smooth appearance. Both types of fir trees are believed to have a life span of nearly 400 Earth years.