Eriospermum cooperi multiplied

Eriospermum cooperi plants grow here in shallow, mossy ground on sheetrock.

The tiny tubers of several Eriospermum species do well in damp conditions, proliferating one-leaf plants appearing annually above-ground when the going is good. Some eriospermums prefer sandy soils, others clayey, while the more versatile ones cope in various soil types. Many seeds must have fallen here fortuitously, close to a parent plant that flowered and set seed in the past. The boundaries of such a homogeneous colony are determined by the suitability of the terrain, the population density sometimes sufficient to achieve a festive presence.

And beyond that? Pioneer seeds that venture too far from the possible pay the price and die. The occasional freaky ones, however, miraculously owning an endowment of slightly off-pattern or unconventional genes, manage to live in places where none of their ancestors had ever made it. This is how life supports tough and determined forerunners of many a species, freaky one-in-a-million successes, since life on earth began. It gives them unusual, no, unique chances of conquering new domains while developing new identities.

And then, as new species to multiply their weird, previously unknown, genetic or acquired attributes for building their own, unique bits of diversity never seen on earth before. Each becomes ensconced in a different, available niche near tree, rock or water that appears to be waiting, ready for something live and exciting to occupy it (Van Wyk and Malan, 1997; Pooley, 1998; iNaturalist).