germination

The adult plants are known to rely on a certain type of fungi that develop structures within the plant's roots, but whether these same fungi also help with germination has not been established.

Its seeds can lay dormant for years until intense heat and other cues from a wildfire triggers germination.

"They wanted to play and build stuff. They were making houses or ships or scenery, and they wanted to jump in, and all of that learning was the germination of Roblox," he says.

The seeds of some chaparral plants need to be treated with heat or liquid smoke to simulate the fire conditions that would naturally trigger germination.

This "staggered" germination was the plant's way to ensure survival over the long haul.