Flora:Aeris Sky Tree

Aeris Sky tree
The might Aeris Sky tree; a plant so important that no life could exist on the Aeris moon without it. The Aeris sky tree can grow to be many miles tall, and appears to be a large mass of intertwined thick green vines. When the first Chryidian research vessel landed on the Aeris moon, they believed that the moon's surface was composed of large green vines. But in fact, they were standing upon the upper most stories of one of the many sky trees. As each layer of a tree grows, the layer below the newest layer flattens out into a long plain made of Thick, strong vines. Some vines stretch skyward, wrapping up with other vines and splitting off at the top to form "branches" That hold up large balloon-like seed pods. On other parts of the plain, vines wrap around each other to form large depressions in the ground, which collect large amounts of rainwater. Some of these depressions grow so large, they turn into ponds or even lakes.

structure
Many sky trees grow on the Aeris moon. When they grow large enough, the two flat edges of the plains meet, and wrap around each other, expanding the surface of the tree. Gaps between trees can be very deep, even stretching down to the planets nutrient rich soil. A fall from the upper most story to the planets surface would mean instant death, as the fall can be many miles. The bottom most trunks of the trees can be 1,000 feet thick, and can easily support the many layers of the tree. As trees combine together, their trunks also expand, until they meet and form a totally new, gigantic "tree" The flat plains of the trees are also very large, being 200 feet thick in places.

impact
While the most important organism on the Aeris moon, it is also the most dangerous. When a sky tree dies (which is very infrequent) it collapses downward, giving any life living on the tree almost no means of escape. A collapsing of a large sky tree can be heard many miles away, and can bring death to many animals. This also leaves a large gaping hole in the flat plain of trees. But life does move on: Any sees that drop into the chasm might land in the heap of tangled dead vines, and absorb their nutrients as it grows to refill the gap left by the collapsed tree.