Scrutitatus lamabratus
In the highly competitive forests for Zone C, it was becoming harder and harder for the tree-like polyphs to niche partition in the region. The shallows of nearby Zone C1, however, were completely free of competition. A population of Scrutitatus twistus, in order to avoid competition from similar polyphs in Zone C, began to settle the zone and adapt to its conditions and eventually become a new species.
6-8 feet tall
Originated in zones C1 and C (growing from on the beach into waters as deep as 1.2 meters)
In many ways, Scrutitatus lamabratus is very similar to its ancestor. They still have the twist in the middle of their trunk as extra support and have their 1-5 branches grow after said twist. The 2 to 6 blue-green leaves on each branch still grow to around 4 feet in length to capture as much sun light as they can. Plus they still drop their seeds that produce a foul smell to deter predation. The main difference between S. lamabratus and its ancestors are the adaptations to a semi aquatic lifestyle. The roots of S. lamabratus have become much longer and spread out farther, helping keep the polyph stable in the loose sediment and helping to prevent it from toppling over; the roots additionally have developed aerenchyma so oxygen can flow down into the roots and provide an air supply. To help produce these larger roots, the species sacrificed some of their energy dedicated to growing the trunk to be redirected to the roots which resulted in the trunk being shorter than the trunk of S. twistus.
In the shallow waters Scrutitatus lamabratus dwells in, the only other polyph that they completely share their range with is the 10 cm tall Crooksoluis amfivios. While they live together, they do not compete with one another, since Crooksoluis amfivios can be described as a moss-like organismb(which absorbs nutrients through their leaves and other tissues with the roots only acting to anchor itself to the sediment), meanwhile Scrutitatus lamabratus relies primarily on their roots to pull in nutrients from the sediment.
Much like their distant ancestor Megaplortatus longatumus, Scrutitatus lamabratus have their flowers sprout and bloom in the late spring; which are pink and yellow with a sweet smell to attract pollinators such as Chromaptera picticornus and Chromaptera heteropteryx (although the latter does also eat their leaves). Once the seeds become large enough, they drop off and germinate; these seeds still retain a foul smell to deter creatures such as Amfivioslontus lutosquama that would otherwise likely see them as an easy meal. The polyph takes about 2 weeks to grow into full size.