CONEDILION – TIMELINE #9139880

(Timeline Tuesday #3)

Conedilions are a species of aggressive, carnivorous plant-life that use deception and camouflage to catch their prey.

At first glance, a conedilion is nearly identical to a toppled safety cone that one might find along the road or in an urban construction zone. The creatures are bright orange with two thick bands of white that wrap around the circumference of their heads. While disguising themselves as a safety cone, there are few other features of note, although closer inspection will reveal a pale grey appendage snaking down from the point of the cone to a crack in the pavement below.

When the conedilion is ready to attack, however, its form changes drastically. At this point, a row of sharp, fanglike teeth emerge from the gums of the plant’s round mouth orifice, and their slithering, vine-like body rises from the ground. This body is grey and covered with orange leaves, featuring two small tendril appendages that are used for gripping and rudimentary object manipulation.

These plants cannot forge the typical routine of other carnivores who actively hunt for prey. They are connected to the ground, unable to move too far for their rooted point of origin. Instead, condelilions rely on luring potential victims who pass them by, typically good Samaritans who see a knocked over safety cone and want to tip it upright. Construction workers are also a frequent target of these predatory plants.

Conedelions have a lifespan of approximately one month, during which time they only require two human-sized meals. If this prerequisite is met, the plants will develop several golf-ball-sized seeds deep within their throat. Minutes before their death, the plants will blast these seeds from their mouth, scattering them up to a hundred yards down the road.

The home timeline of the conedelion is one in which multiple intelligent societies have come and gone, leaving behind massive urban landscapes that are later reintegrated into the wild. Thus, various plants and animals must adapt to the previously-paved landscape.