@##%††~¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨~††%##@
£###%††«~¨                                          ¨~«††%###£
@@£#%††«~¨                                          ¨~«††%#£@@
#†«~¨¨¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨¨¨~«†#
##@£%††«~¨                                          ¨~«††%£@##
#@£#%††«~¨               «««««««««««                ¨~«††%#£@#
@££#%††«~¨              ††           ††             ¨~«††%#££@
@#†««¨¨¨¨¨             †   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.           ¨~«††%##££
@££#%††«~¨                                          ¨~«††%#££@
##†««¨¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨¨««†##
#@£#%††«~¨                                          ¨~«††%#£@#
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###††«¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨«††###