Plant Name:
Dandelion Tree
Abstract Description:
The dandelion tree is named so as it is much like the common dandelion. It is covered with small cotton like fibers that both collect the moisture that rarely falls upon the rocky soil of the great mountains. They also carry the seeds on the winds that fill the canyons during the spring season.
Physical Appearance:
The dandelion tree does not really look much like any tree your average Aelyrian would recognize. They do not reach upward into the sky like most tree's, they instead tend to spread outward. They also don't have the usual green leaves or needles, instead they have a cotton like substance that covers the trunk and branches. The trunk stretches up to about 6 or 7 feet, and then the branches spread outward, weaving with the other tree's that are nearby. In a particularly dense orchard of them, the branches are so closely weaved together that they form a practically solid ceiling to those that may walk beneath.
Climate/Terrain:
The dandelion tree is found only in the upper plateaus of the great mountains. Both water and usable soil is rare so high up, so the dandelion tree has developed ways to collect moisture from the air around it, the roots are in truth more just a way to solidly anchor the tree to the rocky soil.
Reproduction:
The dandelion tree reproduces much the same as the small weed it is named after. The seeds are small, but have up to an inch of fiber that sprout from it. Once an era the shift in seasons will cause strong winds to blow through the mountains. The winds will catch hold of the small plume of fiber that extends from every seed and carry it. Allowing the orchard to expand regularly, and for new orchards to sprout on plateaus far away.
Other:
Of only small note is the fact that the fibers of this tree are on occasion used by small tribes of goblins and other humanoids that live within the great mountains and don't have access to more sophisticated materials. Also worth note is a wine that is very rarely made from the sap of this tree. It is by many considered a delicacy as it is very rare that one will travel all the way into the mountain in order to collect the sap necessary. So rare is it that unless one were a collector there is little chance of knowing of its existence.
Linear Mode
