Author Notes - The most interesting thing about this particular family is that it's a PLANT instead of an animal. It shares an in-game family with the Margaret, which is a flower. How this connects to the real world flower confuses my brain, especially since its genus implies that it's actually related to the DANDELION!
CHRYSANTHEMUM FAMILY
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Order: Asterales
EMILY'S PERSONAL NOTES
This is really the kind of disguise you only fall for once. After that, you'll see those eyes and predict the attack a mile away. That first time is all it needs though, because oh goodness I nearly had a heart attack!
The yellow flowers it uses to disguise itself actually reminds me of a time when I was little and had a crush on Alph. Yeah, by coincidence we ended up going to the same highschool. Anyway, I wanted to show my love by giving him these pretty yellow flowers. And yes, I know it's usually the other way round, but I didn't see why a boy couldn't be given flowers! Except it turned out that Alph's allergic to a lotta plants, including those flowers, so… it didn't end well. But we're still friends! So… there's that.
Ya know, the idea of pollen allergies has always been a little fascinating to me. Sounds weird, I know, but hear me out. Since flowers only give off pollen as a mean of reproduction, having pollen allergies is essentially a weird superpower to be able to tell when flowers are having sex. I tried explaining this to Alph once, to make him feel better about having allergies, but he just gave me an odd look. … Weird shower thoughts like that are probably why my older sister Georgia always made fun of me.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCES
The Taraxacum rovinia (Creeping Chrysanthemum, which will now be referred to as the 'Creeper') is a bizarre creature, because it isn't a creature at all but instead a plant. It is, however, easy to mistake it for being a member of the Animal Kingdom when its true appearance is revealed, for it blurs the line between animal and plant.
Typically, the Creeper hides its deceptively massive body underground, with only its eyes visible above ground. At first glance, the eyes may appear to be no different from the yellow flowers known as Luminosus croeaus (Margaret), but there are key differences to note. A Creeper can only manage to 'grow' three flowers, while Margarets can blossom into four or more. More obviously, though only up close, is that there will be small white eyes instead of brown pistils.
Once the Creeper emerges from the ground, its true appearance is revealed. It is in fact a massive creature, easily reaching the height of approximately ten average Koppaites. It has a big bulbous body, the top of which are the green stalks the eyes are attached to. Its two small arms resemble roots, and the flower on top is revealed to be a big red jaw with small spikes on the back. Within this jaw is a tongue, unusual for a plant. Like a few plant species, it lacks any leaves. Its body is a bluish green and has dark-blue root-like patterns on the top and bottom, and the tips of its arms are brown. The legs on the bottom of its body are small but strong, and it moves about by shifting its weight over its legs and shuffling forward.
One notable aspect is its size - approximately 12-15 cm tall, from its legs to its head. This makes it considerably bigger than most of the animals found in this ecosystem.
HABITAT
The Creeper will only attempt to hide in places where Margarets can be found, so it can pull off a successful illusion. If a Margaret would never grow in an area, a Creeper will never be found there. The flowers, and by extension the Creeper, can be found in temperate forests, ranging from the warm Awakening Wood to the cool Wistful Wild. Creepers will not necessarily be in close proximity to a Margaret, so care should be taken around these yellow flowers if one cannot easily identify the white eyes where the pistil would be.
Creepers may be found underground, but will only be found in caves and 'sublevels' with very fertile soil. Since flowers - including the Margarets which they mimic - struggle to grow underground, it leaves the Creeper with very little places to flourish beneath the planet's crust. Due to a lack of overall spaces to properly grow, underground Creepers are often seen in groups within the small fertile areas.
They can also be found in certain caves referred to as 'yard sublevels', whose existence is incredibly confusing. These sublevels appear to be sunny grasslands, though they are found underground and time does not pass normally. Most researchers choose to not even bother with trying to explain these floors, for they make no sense no matter how one looks at them.
DIET AND DEFENCES
Unlike most plants, the Creeper lacks any kind of leaves and thus does not survive on photosynthesis. Similar to the famous Dionaea muscipula (Venus Flytrap), it is capable of digesting and consuming small insects and Pikmin. However, it cannot live without committing to carnivory, unlike the Flytrap that can live by performing photosynthesis like most plants.
It lures in its prey by burying itself in the ground, exposing only its 'flowers' that highly resemble Margarets. While in disguise, it excretes a sweet-smelling pheromone meant to attract more insects to it. It will wait there for hours on end, waiting for its prey to arrive. The Creeper has a rather primitive sense of sight that can only track movement, so when it sees potential prey walking by it has to use its root-like arms to feel the vibrations of whatever is approaching it. If it believes that the creature is small enough, it will suddenly emerge from the ground and often puts its prey into a state of surprise. It will not emerge from the ground if it does not think it can deal with its opponent, staying in the ground and letting the beast pass by.
When it emerges from the ground, it will attempt to eat its prey by swinging its head down and grabbing them with its jaw. Its tongue is capable of taste, but only on a rudimentary level - all of its preferable prey tastes the same to it, and its sense of taste is used primarily to differentiate between what is edible and what isn't. It is unable to taste a difference between its prey and does not favour one above the other.
It has a habit of missing its prey, however, and this can often lead to its jaw smacking against its body. If this happens, it can lead to the Creeper falling backwards and being left vulnerable to attack for several seconds until it is able to stand upright again. This otherwise crippling flaw is circumvented by its massive size making it near impossible for its small prey to easily attack. Which, of course, does not account for Pikmin (see 'Pikmin).
If its prey gets away, a Creeper will attempt to give chase. Due to its girth and the root-shape of its legs, it cannot move very fast at all. If it fails to keep up - which it often does - it will return to its spot and bury itself in the ground once again. It will then wait for more prey to approach, repeating the cycle until it succeeds at snagging some food.
SOCIAL STRUCTURE
Creepers are typically solitary creatures, who will attempt to distance themselves away from other members of this species so they do not need to compete for food. The species exhibits low rates of violence with others of its kind, making it clear this is not out of fighting for territory but simply making sure they have enough food to themselves.
In fact, while Creepers do not exhibit cooperative behaviours, they can easily share areas and territories with each other if the need arises. If all the fertile ground in an area is located in a small spot, they are perfectly capable of crowding around this spot with little to no fighting. Any fighting that occurs between specimens is merely them clambering for food, and it appears that they hardly notice other Creepers at all.
COURTING AND CHILDREARING
Creepers do not court, for they reproduce in a similar manner to plants. When winter ends and the air begins to warm up again, Creepers will cease all hunting attempts to spread their pollen into the air through their yellow flowers. They cannot self-pollinate, and rely on the wind and various creatures to spread their pollen to other members of their species. Various species such as Pikmin and Antlyfuzzes (see 'Whiskerpillar') help the spread of pollen to keep the species alive.
When this pollen reaches the ovaries of another Creeper (the ovaries in question being much more similar to those of plants than animals), the flowers of the Creeper will blossom into a collection of fluffy white seeds, much like the seeds of the other members of the Taraxacum genus (i.e. Dandelions). These light seeds will be spread by the winds, where they will be planted and slowly grow into a new Creeper.
Creepers at first are only a small jaw connected to the ground via roots, and they will only mature after they have eaten enough sustenance. This process can take anywhere between a few weeks to a few months, depending on how quickly it can amass food. A Creeper becomes fully mature once its roots grow out of the ground and become functional limbs.
OTHER NOTES
The pollen given out by flowering Creepers during the early weeks of spring has slightly different properties from pollen made by other plants. This has little effect in practise for the most part. However, it appears to be hypoallergenic. Individuals who suffer allergic reactions (e.g. sneezing, watery eyes) to pollen will not exhibit any signs of hay fever when exposed to the pollen made by Creepers.
Most creatures on this planet fail to see through the disguise of this plant, and often fall for the same trap multiple times. This leads to herbivorous creatures trying to eat its flowers before being met with powerful jaws. However, Pikmin appear perfectly capable of seeing through such a disguise. This is likely because both Creepers and Pikmin share a similar plant/animal nature, though Creepers are proper plants while Pikmin are in the Pikmilia Kingdom.
NOTES FROM OTHER RESEARCHERS
Creeping Chrysanthemum -
That disguise is effective, I'll give it that, but it doesn't work as well the second time around. I wish I didn't have to wear my space suit, because then it would be a lot easier for me to tell the difference: these fake flowers don't set off my allergies! - Alph
I am not okay with this! Now I'm terrified to go near any sort of flower in case it turns out to be a living creature in disguise! This planet is really good at the whole 'paranoia' thing, isn't it? - Brittany
What a lovely flower! I'd give it Brittany if Alph wasn't- HEY! Oh my gosh, it's a creature! TROOPS, ASSEMBLE! Attack this foul beast at- Oh no… MIN DOWN! MIN DOWN! - Captain Charlie, recorded mid-battle
Author Notes - That 'flowers having sex' joke is going to get this story bumped up to an 'M' rating if my hand is forced. And I stole that joke from a Reddit post too. This is getting worse and worse the more I keep speaking. By the way, the 'Antlyfuzz' was a thing I made up. It's meant to be combination of 'antlion' and 'fuzz', and seeing as it's in the Whisperpillar family, you might be able to guess what's going on there.
Next time, we get to our first Pikmin 1 exclusive enemy! Don't fall for that gorgeous shiny pearl... IT'S A TRAP!
