Id like to present to you, the Mallegant, These lil fellas stand at just 2 inches tall, and weigh about a pound. They have leaves on their head and roots at their hips which they deploy when they are not in danger or about to sleep. They often live in forests, but variants of them can be found in all kinds of places. They are often eaten by rabbits, chikakis and other herbivores.
Their roots are extended from a special internal fluid that they pump into them at high pressure.
They do not reproduce like mammals, they instead rely on pollination. They flower about twice a year for roughly 3 weeks at a time.
Their seeds grow in their mouth, which fall out, or are spat out as they are ready. Mallegant seeds are about the size of a hollyhock seed. they form in "slices" in the mallagants cheeks and under its tongue, when they have a lot of seeds in their mouth they get puffy cheeks.
Their average lifespan is about 6 months due to them getting picked off by bigger predators. They will attempt to bury themselves under fallen leaves, or hide in shrubs or bushes.
Their head leaves can take any form, and may even change from year to year, they shed them in late autumn. and use the sprout leaves on their back to photosynthesise during the winter. for each year that they are alive, they grow additional leaves, its often a good way to tell their age
Their actual lifespan is about 450 years, if they make it to their third year their skin begins to harden and becomes like thin bark and roughly every two years, their skin hardens further. If left for long enough, the mallegant will place its roots for the final time, and focus purely on energy conservation, they often take the form of trees.
Havent focused much on the "prey" creatures in my world most have been predators, Thinking that I may make these lil fellas an open species for people to play around with.
