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,,,,,,,,,^                                          ^,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,^~                                          ~^,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,^~†               ~~~~~~~~~~~                †~^,,,,,,,
,,,,,,^~††              ††           ††             ††~^,,,,,,
,,,,,^~††§             †   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.           §††~^,,,,,
,,,,,,^~††                                          ††~^,,,,,,
,,,,,,,^~†                                          †~^,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,^~                                          ~^,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,^                                          ^,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,                                          ,,,,,,,,,,