Truvvith (TRUH-vith (soft TH, as "think"))

Closely related to Triffle   Truvviths stand about a meter tall, and looks somewhat like an overgrown thistle. The stem is about 10 cm in diameter, with fewer, larger leaves, and a relatively smaller bulge at the base of the flower. Rather than having a fluffy head, the top of the flower is more of a hollow funnel, with a long tongue curled inside it. The tongue ends in an ovoid to teardrop shaped paddle, 10-12 cm long and about 5 cm wide. One side of the paddle is smooth, while the other looks like the suckered side of an octopus's tentacle, or a convex silly putty impression of a honeycomb, with bulges in the range of 8 mm across and about that tall.   The stem emerges from a semi-woody bulge about 20 cm across, hereafter referred to as the body, that usually sits directly on the ground. Also emerging around the stem are three other bare, simple woody stems that surround and clack against the central stem and each other. On the bottom of the body are three stumpy legs, covered by rootlets, which they use to move to better quality soils, full of decomposition products, to feed their high nutrient requirements.   Alternatively, they can use their tongue paddle to catch prey. The stalk of the tongue is elastic, and can extend up to about two meters, which combines with a flexible stem to cover a very large radius. The paddle secretes a toxin that anesthetizes and/or kills small animals. If the prey is small enough, the paddle closes around them and lifts them up into the funnel, where they are digested like a pitcher plant. If the prey is too large, the truvvith just plants itself next to them and waits for them to decompose.   There is speculation that the clacker sticks serve for echolocation. If the clackers are cut off, the truvvith usually stops moving, although it may simply follow another one around, as IT clacks. The clackers grow back in about half a year, but truvviths often sicken and die from nutrient deficiency within that time.   Reproduction seems to be via the bulge beneath the funnel, which ruptures periodically and releases a swarm of seeds reminiscent of cottonwood seeds with a solid portion between 5 and 10 mm. Pollination is unknown.   The seeds are collected for their oil, and the fluff is used variously for bedding and insulation. The bodies of the parent plants are sometimes milked for oil as well, somewhat like how maple trees are tapped for syrup. They are occasionally herded and cultivated for their oil.