FRIC — Viewing Species: Rambleblossom

This resembles a large seed, with a leafy plant beginning to sprout from it, but every so often, you can see an eye peering out of the gap in the tough seed coating.

The sprout has grown into a small sapling. After emerging from its seed coat, the root structures appear to be packed into a radially symmetrical base with four faces and spindly legs. It gets up and moves around every so often, and when it finds a nice sunny patch with moist dirt, it hunkers down and buries its legs to soak up water. It's a bit skittish, and rustles its leaves at anything that startles it.

Rambleblossoms are an odd species of plant creature. They are a mobile dwarf tree, with brightly coloured photosynthetic petals and root legs that are capable of supporting their entire body weight. Rambleblossoms move around to find ideal soil conditions, and to avoid high concentrations of pests and herbivores, giving them an edge over immobile plant life.

Rambleblossoms are usually fairly docile, but if they feel threatened, they do not hesitate to kick. An especially irritated or damaged Rambleblossom can ignite a layer of flammable, explosive sap underneath their bark, causing a small explosion. The bark of a Rambleblossom is structured in a way that turns into hot, sharp shards when the sap detonates, and the underlying trunk is largely unharmed. However, it takes time to grow back, and the Rambleblossom is much more susceptible to disease and damage without its protective bark, so they avoid doing so except as a last resort, and will rustle their petals aggressively to try and warn off threats before exploding.

Rambleblossoms respond fairly well to typical pruning, however, and can learn to recognize faces of their keepers. They are a bit stubborn about where they settle down to absorb water, but make pleased clicking noises when dead foliage is trimmed away. While adults can be encountered year-round, their flowers only produce and are receptive to pollen in the spring, after a period of winter dormancy.