Approved Species Thurin Swamp Poppy

[Nicodemus Thaal]

Image Credit: Google Images

Name: Thurin Swamp Poppy

Homeworld: Bendali

Development Thread: I intend to make a dev thread for this, if required, as this is a genetically modified/bio-engineered plant, however I'm posting this first so the judges can tell me how long the dev thread needs to be before I make it.

Average Measurements: Thurin Swamp Poppies typically grow to about 2.5 centimeters tall and can form floating rafts of anywhere between 0.3 and 1.5 meters across.

Cultivation Requirements: The Thurin Swamp Poppy has very specific requirements for growth. It will only grow in wetlands or shallow swamps, such as the wetter parts of the jungles of Bendali. Secondly, it's engineered to require very high amounts of boron, zinc and nickel. This is intended to make it very hard to grow the plant outside the wetlands and swamps of Bendali, which have unusually high contents of those minerals due extensive mining.

Distinctions: The Thurin Swamp Poppy is a genetically modified and specially bred version of the common water-poppy found in the galaxy. Like the common water-poppy, the Swamp Poppy is grown from seeds laid in wet mud or shallow swamplands. The seed will quickly sprout and produce wide waxy leaves designed to float on shallow water or rest on soft mud. Over the next several weeks, the beds or rafts of waxy leaves will expand while roots will grow from the underwater stem of the plant and extend outwards. More stems will grow from these roots, until the Swamp Poppy spreads throughout the entire area, if proper fertilizer is present. After about six weeks, the swamp poppies will produce dozens or hundreds of yellow flowers across their now extensive floating leaf networks. If pollinated, the Swamp Poppies will soon after produce very large seed pods; the reason why Thurin Swamp Poppies were bread.

These seeds pods are specifically designed to produce huge amounts of opium latex. Seed pods produced by Thurin Swamp Poppies are nearly twice the size of typical opium poppies and are swollen with the valuable sap-like latex that poppy seed pods produce. However, due to the fact that Swamp Poppies produce larger seeds pods with far more opium sap then usual, the seed pods are more fragile. Farmers must be extremely careful when slicing these seeds pods to harvest the opium latex- if the seed pod is squeezed, battered, or dropped it will burst, causing the sap to be wasted. Due to this, wind storms, animals, and careless farmers can easily destroy a crop of Swamp Poppies.

Strengths: High Opium Crop: Thurin Swamp Poppies are engineered to produce very high crops of opium latex, far more then typical opium poppies. As an added bonus, much to Thurin Corp's delight, the poppies developed an unforseen side affect due to being forced to grow in climates that poppies usually do not thrive in: due to the lack of availible nutrients typically found in swamplands, the Swamp Poppy devotes even more resources then the scientist at Thurin Corp. originally intended to seeding and fruit production. This means that Swamp Poppies develop even larger seed pods and even more opium latex then Thurin Corp. had hoped for. Due to this, Thorin Swamp Poppies are a fantastic source of opium, something still used very commonly throughout the galaxy to create a variety of common medicines and painkillers.

Thurin Swamp Poppies are engineered to yield very high crops of opium latex, far more then typical opium poppies, which then can be processed to create a variety of painkillers and sedatives very commonly used throughout the galaxy. As opiate medicines are widely used, this makes these poppies a very valuable crop.

Resistant to Local Diseases: Thurin Swamp Poppies are designed to be resistant to diseases and fungi commonly found on Bendali.

Weaknesses: Fragile: Due to the fact that they are bred to produce far more opium latex then nature intended, the seed pods of Swamp Poppies are very fragile. Too much pressure, careless handling, storms and other dangers can cause the seed pods to burst, ruining it.

Offworld Diseases: It's genetic modifications have highly reduced it's ability to combat diseases and fungi it was not specifically bred to combat. This means that diseases, fungi, and parasites harmful to plants that are not common to Bendali will devastate a crop of Thurin Swamp Poppies.

Specific Requirements: Thurin Swamp Poppies are designed so that they need very high amounts of certain minerals that are usually not found in other worlds' swamps and wetlands, only found in Bendali's due to the extensive mining operations that took place throughout Bendali when humans first began to inhabit the world. This means that Thurin Swamp Poppies cannot grow outside of those specific regions of Bendali.

Reliant on Certain Insects: For some reason the genetic tampering done to Thurin Swamp Poppies make them unattractive to most pollinating insects. Oddly, only a small type of bee native to certain regions of Bendali will pollinate the plants. This, of course, means that if there were no populations of these specific bees present, the plants will not be pollinated and will not form seed pods.


Average Growth Cycle: Roughly 55 standard days.
Average Life: Thurin Swamp Poppy plants can survive for up to three years before new seeds are needed. Also, since Bendali's seasons are fairly mild, meaning the planet is tropical and humid all year long, the Thurin Swamp Poppy can keep producing flowers and seed pods throughout the year.

Nutritional Value: Not really edible.

History: The Thurin Swamp Created is the first creation to come out of Thurin Corp's genetic engineering labs. It was made for multiple purposes. A, it means that Thurin Corp can produce opiate-based medications and pharmaceuticals faster and in larger quantities then it's competitors. This also means that Thurin Corp. can sell their product for cheaper, both giving them another edge over competition and helping to supply the poorer people of Bendali with cheaper medication, as promised. B, It creates a crop that can be grown in Bendali's wetlands and swamps besides the infamous Death Mug. This means that poor farmers and peasents who have no choice except to grow the illegal Death Mugs for the drug lords of the planet, as that's essentially the only way they can make money off their wet land unfit for growing other crops, now have an alternitive. This will both raise the influence of Thurin Corp on Bendali, by making it so more and more people work for the company by growing Swamp Poppies, and lower the influence of the planet's spice lords.

Intent: To create more products for Thurin Corp. to sell as well as to create more positive publicity for Thurin Corp. on Bendali.

 

[Reverance]

[member="Nicodemus Thaal"]

Greetings, I will be reviewing this submission.

 

[Reverance]

So I guess before we move forward with the species itself, we should get the biology out of the way. I'm gonna apologize ahead of time, I'm a bit of a stickler/nerd when it comes to this sort of thing.

It will only grow in wetlands or shallow swamps with very high humidity, such as the wetter parts of the jungles of Bendali.

I appreciate the focus on wetlands in this species, a subject near and dear to my heart. However, humidity is not the pressure that causes certain plants to thrive in wetlands (bladderworts, venus fly traps, etc). Because of the slow rate in which oxygen dissolves in water (1000x slower than air), wetlands are marked by a pronounced absence of oxygen (particularly in old wetlands such bogs or forested bottomland hard woods). What causes wetland plants to thrive in these circumstances is that they are adapted for it while others are not. For instance, carnivorous plants have the ability to uptake nutrients from other resources by soils, largely because in the absence of oxygen, bacteria and plants will deplete the soil of essential nutrients in their endeavor to find the most ATP efficient final electron acceptor. A bit much in detail, but it helps to sort of paint the picture. In the same vein, some plants will grow roots above the root and straight from the stem (adventitious roots) that allow exchange of oxygen straight from the air supply. Nevertheless, humidity isn't the main component to this equation. So this is more of a comment for a mild edit, not necessarily game changing.

Secondly, it's engineered to require very specific amounts of boron, zinc and nickel in specific amounts. If the soil that these poppies are grown in contain too much or too little of any of those elements, all three of which are only found in tiny tiny amounts in the wetlands and swamps of Bendali, the plant will not grow properly.

One of the main functions of wetlands is bio and chemical retention (stormwater ponds for runoff, for instance). They are often used to treat mining runoff that can contain boron, nickel, manganese, iron, etc. However, in circumstances where fertilizer is used, it can cause the nutrients to dissolve in water and mobilize. It's the reason that we have hypoxic dead zones off the coast of Texas. People use fertilizer, fertilizer runs off into the streams, streams push out into rivers, rivers flow into the ocean. Here, plankton take all of those nutrients (which are normally rate limiting factors) and with the help of all the available oxygen, began to breed and die off. Depleting the oxygen even further. I would say, in such cases, that use of fertilizer would only serve to further diminish nutrients in the wetland itself, causing an even more pronounced effect on the vegetation. So I guess I'd like to discuss this as I see fertilzer is a critical component of your submission though I don't think it's entirely necessary. For instance, you can instead have these poppy only grow in depressional wetlands found near mining sites and obtain the same nutrients.

I took a look at Bendali and while it was described as a Tropical rain forest sort of planet, it doesn't mention anything about wetlands. However, I approve of the subtlety of that, as the equator has an abundance of freshwater wetlands.

Seed pods produced by Thurin Swamp Poppies are nearly twice the size of typical opium poppies and are swollen with the valuable sap-like latex that poppy seed pods produce.

Is this strictly because of genetic tampering or is it a response of the plant to the sort of environment that a wetland presents? Perhaps, due to the lack of available nutrients, it devotes an abundance of resources to seeding and fruiting bodies in an effort to be pollinated?

As for your comment about development, I don't perceive this as something that will need it in the current form.

 

[Nicodemus Thaal]

So I guess before we move forward with the species itself, we should get the biology out of the way. I'm gonna apologize ahead of time, I'm a bit of a stickler/nerd when it comes to this sort of thing.

No problem! I like biology quite a bit, I'm happy to make this as biologically accurate as possible.

I appreciate the focus on wetlands in this species, a subject near and dear to my heart. However, humidity is not the pressure that causes certain plants to thrive in wetlands (bladderworts, venus fly traps, etc). Because of the slow rate in which oxygen dissolves in water (1000x slower than air), wetlands are marked by a pronounced absence of oxygen (particularly in old wetlands such bogs or forested bottomland hard woods). What causes wetland plants to thrive in these circumstances is that they are adapted for it while others are not. For instance, carnivorous plants have the ability to uptake nutrients from other resources by soils, largely because in the absence of oxygen, bacteria and plants will deplete the soil of essential nutrients in their endeavor to find the most ATP efficient final electron acceptor. A bit much in detail, but it helps to sort of paint the picture. In the same vein, some plants will grow roots above the root and straight from the stem (adventitious roots) that allow exchange of oxygen straight from the air supply. Nevertheless, humidity isn't the main component to this equation. So this is more of a comment for a mild edit, not necessarily game changing.

Good to know and I'll keep this information in mind in case I ever make wetland-based subs in the future. Edit made.

One of the main functions of wetlands is bio and chemical retention (stormwater ponds for runoff, for instance). They are often used to treat mining runoff that can contain boron, nickel, manganese, iron, etc. However, in circumstances where fertilizer is used, it can cause the nutrients to dissolve in water and mobilize. It's the reason that we have hypoxic dead zones off the coast of Texas. People use fertilizer, fertilizer runs off into the streams, streams push out into rivers, rivers flow into the ocean. Here, plankton take all of those nutrients (which are normally rate limiting factors) and with the help of all the available oxygen, began to breed and die off. Depleting the oxygen even further. I would say, in such cases, that use of fertilizer would only serve to further diminish nutrients in the wetland itself, causing an even more pronounced effect on the vegetation. So I guess I'd like to discuss this as I see fertilzer is a critical component of your submission though I don't think it's entirely necessary. For instance, you can instead have these poppy only grow in depressional wetlands found near mining sites and obtain the same nutrients. I took a look at Bendali and while it was described as a Tropical rain forest sort of planet, it doesn't mention anything about wetlands. However, I approve of the subtlety of that, as the equator has an abundance of freshwater wetlands.

I didn't think of this. I was originally using the fertilizer as a method to control who was able to grow the crop, and prevent anyone that Thurin Corp. dosen't want to have the crop from utilizing it. However, it's already nigh-impossible to grow outside of Bendali, so you're right, it isin't necessary. Edits made.

Is this strictly because of genetic tampering or is it a response of the plant to the sort of environment that a wetland presents? Perhaps, due to the lack of available nutrients, it devotes an abundance of resources to seeding and fruiting bodies in an effort to be pollinated?

Good idea. Edit made.

As for your comment about development, I don't perceive this as something that will need it in the current form.

Ah, fair enough.



Thanks for judging!

 

[Reverance]

[member="Nicodemus Thaal"]

Looks good. As a biologist and an avid chaos drug/plant creator, I like this submission.

Approved pending secondary.

[member="Lorelei Darke"]

 

[Quietus]

As I am not a swamp nerd like [member="Reverance"] I will take his judgement at face value.

Pretty flower.

Approved.