Lichoral

Lichoral are exoplants in the phylum Herbacoralia and are distinguished by their construction of calcium carbonate towers. These towers are built in a similar way to corals and help the lichoral gain height and light exposure.

Lichoral communities are usually mutual, as the towers contain very nutrients but provide suitable habitat for a number of species. Nutrients is therefore provided by small exoanimals living in chambers or tunnels within the lichoral structures and from the waste of perching exoanimals such as eses. Specialised tower-dwelling yasteyas produce a nutrient rich honeydew-esque substance and defend the towers from herbivores. Other nutrient sources include plant litter and sometimes carnivorousness.

Lichorals serve as an early stage of succession and, although their growth is continual, the towers are usually overgrown, resulting in thick, tower-filled, uneven forests which serve as prime habitat for a great variety of species and which are amongst the most biodiverse sub-biomes in Pontret.

Etymology
The common name 'lichoral' is simply a combination of 'lichen', the structure-building Earth organisms which show mutualism between fungi and algae, and 'coral'. The scientific name for the phylum is the Latin for plant followed by 'coral', which is the same in Latin as in English.