Mountain Cactus

This small cactus, around 2-3 cm across, lives high above the tree and plant line in the cold, windswept envrionments near the top of mountains. Adapted to this intense cold, collecting energy from the everpresent sun, water from snowfall, and distributing itself on the intense winds, this cactus is incredibly successful, if not numerically signifigant, everywhere mountains are found, due to thier nature leading them to very quickly spread along with Dwarven Airships.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Appearing like a small, dark coin, perhaps 6 mm thick and 2-3 cm across, the rough, tough exterior is actually very porous. This, coupled with the dark colour, allows for snow to seep in and thaw, providing a steady if small supply of water. The actual colour of the plant is green, as it does photosynthesize, but the intense sun at the high altitudes allows for inefficiencies. When pulled out of the ground the small root system can be observed, which serves chiefly to anchor the plant to the ground and not so much to collect nutrients, though it does serve this purpose.
Interestingly, the plant is very sweet, and edible, as it had little need to protect against predators. As such, it is a favourite of Domesticated Giant Goats brought to the regions it lives temporarily by their dwarven masters, and even by dwarves as a seasoning agent.

Genetics and Reproduction

When reproducing the plant will bud off smaller coin shaped forms, which when caught by the wind will be dispersed far, far away, possibly to a different mountain. Once the bud lands, it will quickly anchor down with a simple root system, before beginning growth from a small, mm scale coin to the more adult size.