Disclaimer: What? Pokemon belongs to Nintendo? Oh darn.
Common Name: Tangrowth, Mojumbo
Scientific Name: Labrusca actenistos
Description: Tangrowth are large pokemon, standing 79 inches tall on two legs. Like their smaller relatives the Tangela, Tangrowth's body is almost entirely covered by specialized, vine-like scales called 'tendrils.' These tendrils support colonies of cyanobacteria, which provide the Tangrowth's deep blue-green color. Tendrils cover the pokemon's body and head, and shorter, nearly flat tendrils cover the long forelimbs. The space around the eyes are uncovered, as are the lower limbs, and the Tangrowth's black skin can be seen in these areas.
Tangrowth's toes and fingers are colored deep red. The fingers are tipped with long yet blunt claws, also colored red. These claws are longer in females. Tangrowth's eyes are very large (measuring six inches across) and are usually white in color.
Range: Tangrowth are found in southern Sinnoh, today mostly in protected areas.
Habitat: Tangrowth live in lowland forests and wetlands.
Call: Tangrowth are known to gargle, grunt, and rasp.
Diet: Tangrowth get much of the energy they need from their symbiotic cyanobacteria, but also feed from vegetation and the occasional carcass. They use their long, curved claws to pull down branches holding ripe fruit.
Life Cycle: Tangrowth breed in early spring, when males mate with all females in the area. Their mating is promiscuous, and males do not compete with each other for mates.
Female Tangrowth do not care for their offspring, and abandon their clutch of 4-7 eggs in a burrow they dig with their long claws. The young hatch pale yellow, without any symbiotic cyanobacteria in their tendrils. They must quickly gather their symbionts from the environment, if they are to survive.
Winter is difficult for Tangrowth, and the pokemon often to into torpor, not moving from a secluded area for days at a time. They do not enter true hibernation, however, and still feed and photosynthesize throughout the winter months.
Tangrowth may live up to 32 years.
Relationship with Humans: Tangrowth are not aggressive, but possess surprising strength, and can take a lot of physical trauma. As a result, the battle trade has been harsh on Tangrowth, depleting them from much of their range. Their largest surviving population is found in the Great Marsh, where capturing is legal but limited.
Naturalist's Notes: Tangrowth are too large for most of the predators that remain in their ecosystem, but their tendrils are often grazed by Heracross and introduced Tropius. Another semi-predator is Lickilicki, which depend heavily on Tangrowth tendrils in the winter. A hungry Lickilicki can completely defoliate a Tangrowth, effectively killing it. However, Tangrowth can regenerate lost tendrils or even whole limbs, as long as they do not lose too many tendrils at once. Tangrowth were also once preyed upon by Giratina, which ate only the meat, leaving a pile of tendrils as a telltale sign of their predation.
Tangrowth can control the movements of their tendrils independently, though they are not prehensile as they are in Tangela. They will swing the tendrils at predators to deter them.
Tangrowth are mainly active at night, resting and photosynthesizing during the day.