Plant Encyclopedia (wip)

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PLANT ENCYCLOPEDIA

This is a list of plant species that can be used for in character medication (as specified), setting descriptions, IC dialogue, etc. Not all boards are yet included in this post.

Various texts are copyrighted to users Aries, Loki, Mysteryfaith, Ree

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BLUE PLAIN

sweet grass

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION Long, thick grass with a turquoise tint in sunlight. Looks prickly, but it actually soft. Grows in thick patches all across the Blue Plain, but clumps of it have been found elsewhere in the second layer.

USES Tastes sweet and has been eaten as a rare treat, but should not be consumed regularly. Can cause vomiting and may be useful if poison has recently been ingested, but it has no other known use.

yellow fern

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION Dark yellow ferns with large fronds and thick, blue spores growing on the underside of their leaves. Grow in small groups of two or three.

USES Can be used as an emergency shelter from sun or rain.

OTHER NOTES A somewhat rare plant, but slowly growing more common. The spores are poisonous and cause death almost immediately upon consumption if an antidote can be found quickly.

blue fern

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION Similar to the yellow fern, only with slightly broader, slimy, blue-hued leaves and dark yellow spores. They grow in thick clumps in a few places within the Blue Plain.

USES Cures the poison from the yellow fern, if the unfortunate creature can handle the bitter taste. Small doses are used to cure headaches.

OTHER NOTES More rare than the yellow fern. Due to the similar shape of the blue and yellow ferns, many creatures have confused one for the other.

rot flower

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION A small, white-headed flower only a little taller than the grass it grows between. It can be found all over the Blue Plain. If the temperature drops even by a little, the plants turn from white to a vile shade of green.

USES When white, it tastes like strawberries mixed with salt and can be used to counter the venom of certain grass snakes.

OTHER NOTES The flower gets its name from the fact that it smells and tastes like rotten flesh when the petals turn green. If eaten while green, it can make a creature violently ill.

bloomer

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION Large, beautiful flowers with brown-speckled white petals, found only where weeds grow. When the climate is particularly hot, the blossom unfurls to reveal large, orchid-like petals with a calm pool of water in the center.

USES The sugary water of this plant can relieve the swelling allergic creatures get when consuming the leaves of a prickle plant.

OTHER NOTES When the blossom unfurls, the plant becomes dangerous. The pool of water inside tastes of sugar, but the petals can sense movement and will close up, trapping anything from insects to parts of whatever creature is stupid or unlucky enough to trigger it. The pool then turns into digestive acid that erodes its victim.

prickle plant

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION A very common plant - considered a weed by the locals - that grows thick around the Blue Plain, becoming homes for blooming flowers. Its leaves are thin and knife-like, slimy, black in color, and stick out in all directions, with each leaf covered in tiny prickles that makes it painful to eat.

USES If one can endure chewing the leaves into a pulp and swallowing, it can be a potent painkiller.

OTHER NOTES If the leaves are swallowed whole, they can prickle the throat painfully. Some creatures are allergic to these plants, and their throats will swell closed if they try consuming the plant at all.

crunchy pod

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION This plant is similar to a carrot and grows mostly underground. The stubby, ink-black leaves that poke out above the ground can be pulled to free the square, crunchy, golden brown root.

USES They are edible and have some nutritional value, but not enough to be a primary food source.

OTHER NOTES Eating too many crunchy pods will cause stomach ache. If they are left in the ground in a particularly rainy season, they will rot and cause vomiting in anyone that eats them.

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RIVER GARDEN

yellow lily

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION A large lily with thick, pointy, spiked leaves shaped like spearheads. Their blossoms are very large and sometimes get so heavy they sink into the water. The petals are speckled with tiny, painful prickles. They are an electric, almost neon yellow, with tiny blue ticks on the end of their spikes. These are found in all shady areas of the river. The nectar of this plant is an opaque purple.

USES The nectar is very thick ad sweet - like honey - and makes for a nice treat if a creature can fish the blossom out of the water. The leaves can be used as an adhesive if chewed thoroughly enough.

river reed

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION Tall and straight and surrounding the river, acting like a fence to ward off creatures. They only grow in the water and are so hard they can injure creatures that run into them. They're mostly pale orange, though weak or rotten bits are a dark red instead. Tiny pods colored pearly white grow along the stalk.

USES The pods can give a burst of energy if eaten, but the reed has no other known use. They can be eaten, but the stalks taste plain and the pods taste bitter - almost like coffee.

OTHER NOTES Eating too many reed pods can cause severe headaches, blurred vision, and sometimes unconsciousness. If they make a creature pass out, the creature will wake up extremely thirsty, vomiting, and with a headache.

stripeleaf

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION Small and dainty, these flowers look almost like roses except that their stalks are thick, gray, and thorn-less and they have slightly smaller heads, growing in clumps rather than singularly. Their most distinctive features are the large, gray-blue leaves that grow from their stalks. These leaves are thin and crunchy, and hav a long, white stripe down their center.

USES The stalks are flavorless, but the petals are sour, almost like sherbert, and eating too many can cause vomiting. This makes it useful for purging poison that's been ingested.

OTHER NOTES They grow along the bank of the river, but never touch the water. While most of the leaf is harmless to eat, even licking the stripe can result in a number of angry sores welling up all over a creature's body.

blackbloom

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION Large and intimidating, these blooms are a virus that can contaminate any plant. Their seeds drift on the wind towards a plant, latch on to its stalk, and begin to bloom large, dandelion-like black blossoms. They have angry red centers where new seeds are made, and act like stinging nettles.

USES The blossom itself tastes of salty sea water, but the seeds have a taste similar to raw onions with a slight sugary aftertaste. The seeds can significantly reduce Blue Moss Fever (including stopping the vomiting, lowering the temperature, and reducing the headache), but are risky to retrieve.

OTHER NOTES When the red center of the blossom is touched, it can leave a painful sting on the victim for a day or so.

blossom moss

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION This thick, prickly, pale green moss grows on the bark of many of the trees in the area. It's covered in tiny buttercup-like flowers, with silky red leaves.

USES When it rains, this moss becomes soaked in water, so it serves as a means of carrying water to creatures who can't make it to the river. The red leaves are edible and taste distinctly of dried tea leaves. When chewed into a pulp, the moss can be applied to wounds to help seal them, as it dries quickly over the wound and protects it from infection.

OTHER NOTES Some say that this is the oldest plant known to this world.

blue river moss

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION Pale blue, soft, and fluffy. Found lining the river bank, but cannot be found anywhere else.

USES This moss is often used for bedding.

OTHER NOTES Blue river moss doesn't carry water well. It has a sweet, sugary taste, but consuming it can lead to a disease called Blue Moss Fever, which causes the victim to have a high temperature, headache, frequent vomiting, and chronic cough. If not treated with black blossom seeds, the symptoms can get worse and even lead to death. If the fever is treated, the symptoms usually go away in about a day.

angel fern

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION These ferns are tall and white with round, golden pods at their top that look a little like halos, hence the name. They don't grow anywhere near the water - too much water will kill the plant - but they can be found a few meters away from the bank.

USES This plant is edible. The white stalks taste faintly of salt and are crunchy in texture. The pods can be knocked off the plant and eaten when they are ripe. The pods are soft and spongy and taste sweet like syrup. They can also be chewed into an excelled poultice, which can be consumed to help heal broken bones.

rhummir berries

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION These berries reside on stiff, thick brown stalks near the river and are considered weeds as they leech up a lot of the nutrients and water from the ground and have their roots entwine around the roots of other plants, but they grow large round red fruit that grows purple splotches when ripe. These berries can grow a bit bigger than a grapefruit. They are only found when right by a water source and in shade.

USES The berries have a distinctive, odd sweet and sour flavor and can cause dizziness and lightheadedness and can even daze a creature or cause them to pass out, but they make a fantastic painkiller when crushed and mixed with the sap from the weed/stalk. The leaves of the stalk can be used to quell headaches and migraines caused by the berries.

OTHER NOTES The berries are somewhat addictive.

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MAPLE FOREST

penny tree

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION These trees are huge with thick, sturdy trunks. Their branches are high up, making for a risky climb. Their leaves are shiny and thin, shaped like maple leaves, and are roughly the size of a penny and colored in reds and golds. Halfway through the year, the trees lose their leaves and bark, but both grow back about a week later.

USES The bark is edible and has a sweet flavor. The leaves are a good pain reliever and a cure for shock.

poison violet

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION Named in part for its thick, purple flowers, this tree grows all around the forest. It's a little like a willow tree, except the flowers are more like poppies, hanging upside-down in long chains from the spindly branches of the tree, which has pale yellow bark.

USES Licking the bark can help ease headaches.

OTHER NOTES This tree is also named for the fact that its blossoms are highly poisonous. When eaten or even just licked, they cause a very slow and painful death that involves the creature's organs slowly failing.

gray haven

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION These trees are well-known for their massive trunks - almost the size of a whole cave, a gray haven trunk is thick and study, and a cavern is created at the base of the tree which can become a haven for creatures who are trying to hide. The flowers are a silky silver color, and because this tree rises up far above the other forest trees, ray havens can often look like massive silver domes from the sky. The flowers drop off once every year.

USES Once the flowers fall from the tree, they can be harvested, dried, ad used to treat infections. They must be dried to be of any use.

white creeper

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION These flowers are very common in the forest, growing at the base of amost every tree. With bluebell-lke blooms in a bearly shade of white, they look and haste heavenly. Their blue stalks are tough and mustard-like.

USES This plant is edible with a flavor like fresh salad. It's used as a vitamin suppliment and a cure for anxiety.

gray creeper

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION These flowers are very similar to their white counterparts, except they are slightly smaller and have gray blooms instead of white and blue stalks.

USES The flowers are very spicy and bitter, but good for inducing sleep.

OTHER NOTES Somewhat rare, maybe half as common as white creepers.

black creeper

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION These flowers look like gray creepers, only with balck blooms instead of gray.

USES This is the only known antidote to the purple poison's blooms.

OTHER NOTES This is the rarest flower in the forest, if not in the world. Fro every two-hundred white creepers, there is a well-hidden black creeper. It has been said that only one has ever been found, and that it only grows in the caverns made by the trunks of gray haven trees. It has also been said that some other plant species - particularly poisonous types - can gather around the black creeper to protect it from creatures who would come steal it.

viper rose

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION These flowers aren't related to roses, but have flame-colored, rose-like buds.

USES Viper roses have a pungent, sour taste and no nutritional value, but they can draw out forest viper cenom if chewed into a paste and applied to a bite fast enough. The chewed petals can also serve as a mild antibiotic or be used as a sterile glue for dressing a wound. They can also be dried and stored while staying as effective as if they'd been picked fresh.

life tree

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION This tree is so named because its low-hanging branches harbor large reddish brown fruits that have similar nutritional properties of fresh meat. These fruits are about the size and shape of a large grapefruit. The long stems hang the fruits down to the eye level of an absconding, making them very easy to pick.

USES This plant is edible. The fruit has a thick, metallic flavor and a stringy texture, and can sustain a naturally carnivorous creature.

OTHER NOTES Very rare - only a single one of these trees is in existence, growing in the dead center of the forest. It is said that this tree has existed since the beginning of time. If the fruit isn't eaten in time, it will rot and flood the surrounding area with the smell of putrefying flesh.

trapper

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION These plants resemble a brown and orange splotched steep-sided bowl, though they are much larger. The lip of the plant is about as high as an aboriginal canine is tall. A vine grows out of the lip of the plant and falls to the forest floor. Inside the bowl, a fruit-like growth sits at the very bottom, giving off a very strong, sweet smell that attracts small animals. Once an animal gets inside the plant, it becomes trapped, eventually starving to death. Upon the animal's death, the plant will fill itself enough to cover the animal with a digestive liquid to consume it.

USES Natives can steal the prey inside the plant for themselves. This is a common plant, so a creature could sustain themselves entirely from prey trapper victims.

whiteweed

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION Named after the fuzzy white leaves that pop up out of the forest floor where they grow, these plants seem to be everywhere. The roots are thick and knobby.

USES The roots, which taste similar to ginger, can be eaten to cute stomach aches or stored for use another timesince they retain their moisture near indefinitely.

OTHER NOTES The leaves of the plant have a horrendous flavor, and the fuzz makes them uncomfortable to chew.

lavender blossom

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION These plants grow in large clumps, generally at the base of gray haven trees. They have long stalks covered in small, fuzzy light purple blossoms that smell heavenly.

USES The blossoms have no nutritional value and a lackluster taste, but the scent is good for calming anxiety and reducing stress, especially if the blossoms are dried.

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TEMPLED SAVANNA RISES

arnica

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION A pretty weed with bright yellow flowers that grows to be one to two feet tall.

USES The flower petals are used externally for bruises, burns, and inflammations by rubbing them on the wounded area.

OTHER NOTES Excessive use can cause rashes on sensitive skin. This herb should never be swallowed, as it may induce vomiting, an increased heart rate, nervousness, or even death.

borage

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION Grows to be about eighteen inches tall. Borage has fuzzy, gray-green leaves and vibrant purple flowers that grow facing downward.

USES The oil in seeds provides good nutrition and can even reduce body fat. The entire plant is edible. The stems, which taste like cucumber, can be eaten uncooked. The flowers can be used to flavor water. The leaves can be used to relieve internal pains, though it does nothing to actually heal them.

calefia

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION Orange colored petals with a dark red center. The buds are perfectly round and extremely sticky to the touch.

USES The nectar inside the flower buds provides a good source of nourishment and can be used to feed underdeveloped pods in the Orchard. When swallowed, the sap is also very soothing for sore throats.

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DUNES

rainkeeper bulb

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION A small, green, rubbery plant consisting mainly of a stem and 1-3 bulbs (with the one bulb variety being most common). Hook-shaped needles cover the stem to protect it and the roots.

USES Can be eaten to quench thirst, as the insides are quite moist from absorbing the rare rainwater in the area. The stem has a sweet and tasty flavor and can also be used as an antidote to most poisons in the area if one is willing to brave the needles.

OTHER NOTES If a significant portion of a bulb is eaten way or it can no longer support itself, it goes to seed and rots, allowing new bulbs to sprout in its place.

eoli

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION This life form doesn’t' resemble a plant so much as an upside-down octopus. A small, thick stem gives way to many vaguely triangle-shaped fronds. These fronds are thick and each has three rows of tiny spines going along each edge. The plant is a bright green-yellow when healthy, and filled with thick yellow ooze so pale it's almost clear.

USES The ooze, when applied to the skin, can heal and even prevent burns.

OTHER NOTES The ooze is bitter if ingested and has an aftertaste that can last for hours, but it's otherwise harmless. If the plant is unhealthy, the ooze solidifies and becomes ineffective.

deathbloom

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION This small black plant resembles a cactus right down to the needles, which are so dense that the plant cannot be eaten safely. After it rains, beautiful purple blossoms appear all over the plant's surface.

USES This plant has no known use.

OTHER NOTES The blossoms - when present - produce a toxic pollen that can kill a creature in five minutes to a half hour if enough is ingested. The only known cure to the toxin lies in the thorny stem of the rainkeeper bulb.

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ESTUARY GULF

dreamleaf

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION This plant is tall and thin, growing to a little over the height of most absconding canines. The plant itself mostly resembles bamboo, though it is teal in color and sports many large leaves. It tends to grow in tiny "forests" that make ideal homes for small prey species.

USES The plant is named for its first known use, when creatures first discovered that the leaves make excellent bedding. This plant is edible - smaller, younger specimens have a sweet flavor that turns to savory as they grow and mature. It is also highly buoyant - weak swimmers are known to use the stem as a floatation device if they need to cross the water.

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CAPPED PEAKS

quill-leaf tree

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION This long, tall, thin species of tree is covered in sharp gray needles all year round. Its branches are thin and dense, covering the whitish trunk almost completely. The needles grow so close together that even the smallest of creatures hesitate to make these trees their home. It frequently drops hard-shelled nuts, the shells of which are often seen scattered around the tree.

USES The nuts the tree drops have a nice, savory flavor and are considered a treat by many creatures. The saplings are also edible, as they don't grow their formidable protection for two years after sprouting.

OTHER NOTES These trees present a particular danger during and after storms, as it is not uncommon for strong winds to uproot the tallest of these plants and pull branches off others, causing needles to rain down on the area.