@##%†,,,,, ,,,,,†%##@
##@#%††«,, ,,«††%#@##
@#†††««,,, ,,,««†††#@
##†††«,,,, ,,,,«†††##
#@##%††«,, ,,«††%##@#
#†««,,,,,, ««««««««««« ,,,,,,««†#
@##†«,,,,, †† †† ,,,,,«†##@
@#%††,,,,, † blue fire † ,,,,,††%#@
####%††«,, †† †† ,,«††%####
#%%††††«,, ««««««««««« ,,«††††%%#
#@##%††«,, ,,«††%##@#
#%††«,,,,, the ,blue fire, is a carnivorous plant ,,,,,«††%#
##@#%††«,, living mostly at the western alvar (but ,,«††%#@##
###%%††«,, it has spread to a few other places, ,,«††%%###
#@##%††«,, mostly rocky coasts). ,,«††%##@#
#@##%††«,, ,,«††%##@#
@@##%††«,, the plant is a dense network of ,,«††%##@@
@@##%††«,, green-brown tentacle-like roots, which ,,«††%##@@
##@#%††«,, is often called "rat's tail" before ,,«††%#@##
@#%††«««,, blooming. in late june, it quickly ,,«««††%#@
#%††††,,,, sprouts feelers, ten to thirty ,,,,††††%#
###%%††«,, centimeters high, filled with purple ,,«††%%###
#%%†,,,,,, hairs - this is the blue fire. this ,,,,,,†%%#
#†«,,,,,,, stage lasts for one or two weeks, ,,,,,,,«†#
@##††††«,, depending on food access, water, ,,«††††##@
#@##%††«,, climate. ,,«††%##@#
@@##%††«,, ,,«††%##@@
@#%†,,,,,, often it's not clear how far the plant ,,,,,,†%#@
@@##%††«,, has spread unless its in the fire ,,«††%##@@
#@##%††«,, stage. suddenly, as if overnight, whole ,,«††%##@#
@##%†«,,,, fields can be turned ablaze (with the ,,,,«†%##@
#@##%††«,, same individual plant, as well)! in the ,,«††%##@#
@#††††«,,, blooming peak, it's not unusual for the ,,,«††††#@
#%††,,,,,, whole alvar to be connected north-south. ,,,,,,††%#
#††«,,,,,, ,,,,,,«††#
#†««,,,,,, †††«««««††† ,,,,,,««†#
#%††«,,,,, ,,,,,«††%#
@@##%††«,, fifty weeks of the year, while in rat ,,«††%##@@
##%†««,,,, stage, the blue fire feeds on the stone ,,,,««†%##
@#%†«««,,, itself via a slow chemical attrition. ,,,«««†%#@
#@##%††«,, this is enough to keep the roots alive, ,,«††%##@#
#@##%††«,, but all growth and procreation must ,,«††%##@#
#@##%††«,, happen during the two weeks in june. ,,«††%##@#
#%†«,,,,,, ,,,,,,«†%#
#@##%††«,, now the plant feeds on birds; the ,,«††%##@#
####%††«,, semistiff upright feelers looks like an ,,«††%####
@#%†††,,,, extension of the sea, and birds are ,,,,†††%#@
@@##%††«,, tricked into landing or diving into it. ,,«††%##@@
##†««,,,,, they are quickly paralyzed by the ,,,,,««†##
#@##%††«,, poison on the purple hairs, and ,,«††%##@#
##%%%††«,, devoured over a period of hours. ,,«††%%%##
#@##%††«,, ,,«††%##@#
#%†††««,,, procreation can happen sexually via ,,,««†††%#
@#%%%††«,, spores (cryptogamia) or asexually when ,,«††%%%#@
@@##%††«,, the roots are cut, dividing an ,,«††%##@@
##%†««,,,, individual into two. ,,,,««†%##
##@##%††«, ,«††%##@##
#%††,,,,,, ,,,,,,††%#
#%††««,,,, ,,,,««††%#
##@#%††«,, ,,«††%#@##
####%††«,, ,,«††%####