Twin-Tower Ultraplortatus
Over time, a problem arose in the crowded forests of Zone D when some individuals of the species Ultraplortatus sustensa grew extremely close together from seed pods, but they were independent and competed with each other for space and sunlight, making them both less successful in the end. This species, Ultraplortatus dicaulis, the Twin-Tower Ultraplortatus, has found a way around this by developing one new mechanism; polyphs growing close to each other will grow around eachother and eventually fuse, linking their systems together and collaborating as if they were only one individual in a process known as inosculation. This was selected for as that would allow both of them to share their net income, reducing the amount of competition and helping weakend polyphs recover, as well as each individual supporting each other from falling as their combined mass makes them more robust than in a single polyph, preventing them from suffering the same fate that the actual Twin Towers suffered on September 11th.
Twin-Tower Ultraplortatus can grow up to forty-five meters (45 m) in height and grow vertically upwards some two-and-a-half meters (2.5 m) a year, taking longer to grow because of their increased girth which helps them join together faster, with a base circumference of up to nine meters (9 m) per individual, and gradually sloping inwards as its height increases as in its ancestor. Like in Ultraplortatus sustensa, this species grows a conical system of roots which can travel deep into the ground to access nutrients in the soil, which do not join with the roots of other individuals as they grow downwards and not sideways. Twin-Tower Ultraplortatus will and can grow like a normal Ultraplortatus sustensa if alone, and turn out nearly identical to them but slightly wider, but they are more commonly found in the joined form as they recieve a larger benefit from this and polyphs are abundant at this time, which is what earns them their notorious name Twin-Tower Ultraplortatus. Although there are rare instances of these polyphs growing with three (3), four (4), or five (5) individuals combined, they are less common as some younger ones are overgrown by the others in such a crowded setting before they are able to fuse and combine systems, and therefore only a select few can successfully grow to maturity once a cluster has already been established.
Like in Ultraplortatus sustensa, Twin-Tower Ultraplortatus will release thousands of seeds in a grand event each spring. This is because the forest floor is often shaded by the various amounts of polyphs present, and there is not much sunlight unless there is a clearing present, so seeds have a low chance of survival. They take eighteen years (18 yrs) to grow and mature as opposed to fifteen years (15 yrs) because of their wider growth and more complex system.