Partly inspired by this, this, and a random guy on an image board.
There is a plant on an alien world out there not unlike the banana tree of Earth. It's not exactly a tree, but rather has the illusion of a "trunk" due to the large vertical stem and multiple layers of leaves that grow upwards in a spiraling cylindrical fashion. The roots have evolved into a complex system, analogous to a nervous system in animals, and resting atop it, in the trunk, is a sort of brain, protected and hidden by the leaves around it. These trees form forests, with deep root systems connecting any one tree to every nearby tree in the forest.
Now, during photosynthesis, something like glucose, or more like a crystalline cane sugar is formed and used for energy. However, the brains the trees possess can consciously direct the growth of these crystalline sugars into complex patterns, which serve as a language for communicating ideas, thoughts, feelings, etc. These small crystals are then funneled through a hollow root down into the ground, and taken up by another hollow root from a nearby tree, that takes the sugary crystal and digests it, noting where it possesses structure and does not, much like a primitive computer reading a punch card. This allows the trees to communicate with their neighbors, and pass along messages over the whole forest.
About what, I have no idea. They can clearly move, to an extent, but they'd be otherwise stationary. Maybe they migrate to follow the light. Maybe the crystals also serve as art, depending? Like, certain crystals are pretty in demand. I don't know.
Basically, stationary and communal tree people who communicate by giving each other rock candy to munch on.
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